Manning excelled in the NFL through the use of audibles. 2016 is Tannehill’s year to prove he can too.
LOS control through audibles has been a missing link in Tannehill’s game.
The NFL is a Quarterback driven league, and one point that can be agreed on is that all elite QB’s have one thing in common: the ability to take advantage of defenses pre-snap through the use of audibles.
QB’s that are students of the game find that strong preparation aids them in making the correct calls. Although, it doesn’t guarantee success, as many variables work against that preparation, but as Don Shula said, “Luck (fortune) favors the prepared.”
During Ryan Tannehill‘s first 4 seasons, he was never given total control at the LOS (line of scrimmage), but this year will be different. This is his year to show what his intellectual and emotional capabilities are at pre-snap, which will ultimately determine his future in Miami and in the NFL.
Adam Gase has already stated that he is going to give Tannehill the full authority to audible as he sees fit. This is a key point of development in Tannehill’s game that was suffocated, for whatever reason, by the previous regime of the Miami Dolphins.
On a side note, has anyone ever heard of a franchise QB not given control at the LOS?
Anyway, back to the present.
Gase is showing confidence in Tannehill’s intelligence and judgement. To those who aren’t high on Tannehill, let’s not forget he is far from a dummy having graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor’s degree in biology en route to becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
Now, scholastic intelligence doesn’t directly equate into great game-time judgement. And it doesn’t take the best sportsbook to realize that the memorization and processing of information for a college exam isn’t going to end with coming face to face with 300LB defensive tackles, mad scientist defensive coordinators, 60 thousand fans, and pain…for Tannehill it has been a whole lot of pain.
Tannehill showing he can audible will go along way towards proving his detractors wrong.
But, a comforting factor for those who hope he can succeed pre-snap is his rare athletic ability that allowed him to successfully transition from Wide Receiver to Quarterback. Let’s understand that there a many forms of intelligence and athletic prowess is one of them: Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence is one of the “multiple intelligences” advanced by Harvard University cognition and education professor Howard Gardner. It’s easy to forget that the body is controlled by the mind and saying that Marino or Sanders are geniuses is completely valid from a scientific standpoint.
So, we know he has multiple forms of exceptional intelligence.
We know he is the first player to arrive at the stadium and the last player to leave every day, which shows his high level of commitment.
We know that this is the best line talent he has ever had.
We know that this coaching staff is behind him, and we know by Gase’s history that he is a capable coach.
Now, all we are waiting for, from an managing standpoint, is can Tannehill put it all together under fire.
Let’s be clear, even if this process is destined for success, Tannehill is not going to call all the right audibles. There will be a learning curve. However, the trajectory will be clear almost immediately. Now, Tannehill still needs to work on his accuracy in portions of the route tree, and his leadership needs to continue to grow. But, if he succeeds at controlling pre-snap through the use of audibles, his advances as a QB could make for a tremendous season. And that would nice. Wouldn’t it? Go Fins!!!