Ryan Tannehill’s 2017 role as a Miami starter will be determined this season.
Ryan Tannehill’s 2017 season with Miami will rest on his 2016 performance.
At first glance, the title may seem a bit strange. Yes, it says the year 2017 because, make no mistake, how well Ryan Tannehill plays in 2016 season will determine his future with the Miami Dolphins.
First, let me clear the air: I believe Tannehill will play far better than he has so far in his career. But, it’s by no means a guarantee that his play will be good enough for the Dolphins franchise to pin it’s future on his current contract.
Okay, my tangent is done and back onto topic.
The obvious answer to Tannehill’s future is if he is able to take the Dolphins to the Playoffs this season, then his contract with definitely not be opted out of, and he will remain the Dolphins QB for the foreseeable future.
Okay, that was easy…if this ends up being the case! But, what if he doesn’t lead Miami to the playoffs?
The world of “pundit know it alls” (not me, not me) are not giving the Dolphins much of a chance to succeed in this upcoming season. Even the best sportsbooks are picking Miami to end up last in the AFC East with a shabby over / under Regular Season win total of 7. So the reality is, Miami and Tannehill have the odds stacked heavily against them in their pursuit to make this a meaningful season – at least as far as post-season play is concerned.
So, if the Dolphins fail to make the playoffs, the rest of the world will not see it as a failure, but merely meeting the expectations.
But, for the Miami franchise, for the fed-up fans, and for Tannehill, it won’t be so palatable a mouthful to swallow.
But, what if Tannehill leads Miami to an 8-8 season without a playoff appearance? Will that be enough for him to keep his job for 2017? This scenario isn’t so clear cut. On the surface, 8-8 would be a successful season in the eyes of the odds makers because Miami would have won more games then they were predicted to win – especially in light of the Dolphins brutal schedule this season.
So, 8-8 might not look “too” bad given the context of the situation.
I know we are all desperate to see the Dolphins make the playoffs this upcoming season and context can go suck eggs. But, in all fairness, outside the frustration of a decade of misery, an 8-8 record would be a grey area between joy and disgust. In reality, instead of choking on another season with results below expectation, it would be a season that exceeds them.
So an encouraging 8-8 record, compounded with Tannehill improving, another off-season to add more pieces, I would have tepid hope for 2017. The 2015 team had a lot of issues, and the truth is if the 2016 team has fixed even most of their flaws in one year, it will have been quite a remarkable job. So from a realistic perspective, if improvements are seen and the arrow is pointing up, then I can go on life-support and live with this, and live with Tannehill for a couple more seasons.
Beyond a miracle with Doughty, Miami will have to “Go Fish” if Tannehill isn’t around in 2017.
Let’s also face it, another harsh reality is Miami won’t have a plethora of concrete options if Tannehill isn’t the answer. Miami will likely draft a QB next year, regardless of what Miami does with Tannehill, but the fact is the QB free agent market is not going to offer a gold mine of talent: Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins and Tyrod Taylor are truly the only 2017 free agent QB’s worth mentioning – and none are certain to hit the market. If Cousins and Taylor play well then their respective teams will most likely lock them up to long term contracts. And if they do not play well, what makes them any better than Tannehill? In regards to Brees, he is already 37, and will only really have a couple more seasons left in the tank; he is definitely not a long term answer.
Lastly, and this is the worst case scenario, and is as obvious as making the Playoffs, if Tannehill can’t get the Dolphins to even an 8-8 record, does not improve the offense’s points per game, or third down efficiency, or 4th quarter efficiency or Redzone efficiency, then there really is no reason to give Tannehill a 6th season. Tannehill needs to show improvement in some or all of these categories in order for me, and likely Miami, to have enough patience to give him a 6th season.
The ball will be in Tannehil’s court. Improvements are in place for him to have the best platform to succeed in his career. If he can improve in the critical categories, then the Dolphins record will also be improved because top tier QB’s are very good in these areas, and these areas directly result in wins. What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans thoughts about what Tannehill needs to do to warrant a 6th season starting in Miami? Go Fins!!!
