Omar Kelly claims Ryan Tannehill looks worse that Jay Cutler
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins starting quarterback is back on the field for the first time since week 13 of the 2016 season and his practice sessions have been up and down.
On Saturday the Dolphins held an intra-squad scrimmage. You can read about Tannehill’s day by seeing our previous article on the subject here. While Tannehill’s return to the field on Saturday was uneventful, local beat writer Omar Kelly is saying that Tannehill looks worse than Cutler.
Should Dolphins fans be worried?
Ryan Tannehill has been better these past two weeks than I’ve seen him since 2016. BUT....he’s still not good. He still isn’t practicing at the Jay Cutler level, which is troubling because we all say how Cutler played in games. BUT....maybe Tannehill is a gamer. We shall see. pic.twitter.com/ZRllYUwMia
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) August 5, 2018
That is an interesting assessment to be honest. There isn’t a lot of context here and many fans will point to the fact that Omar Kelly has never really liked Tannehill as a quarterback. Biased opinion or is what he sees real?
There is no doubt that rust still lingers on the quarterback who missed the final weeks of 2016, the post-season Wild Card game and all of the 2017 season. While Tannehill was developing nicely in 2016 the knee injury was a setback.
Jay Cutler was a gunslinger and in practice he was far more carefree with the ball for two reasons. He liked to whip the ball around and he knew he wouldn’t get hit. Once the season started Cutler still tried to whip the ball around but a lot of his throws were horrible as he simply tried to avoid getting touched. More than a few were thrown into the ground.
Is the comparison fair even if it only relates to practice sessions? That is hard to say as well considering that Kelly has seen Tannehill on the field from 2012 to 2016 prior to the injury. Is he a “gamer”? There is plenty of film and observation to formulate the opinion that he is or isn’t based on practice and real game situations.
At this point, Dolphins fans shouldn’t be worried. The Dolphins are a young team with a quarterback shaking off the rust and trying to become a leader again. We will know in a few weeks of Tannehill can lead this team or not.