I know some of you either like Omar Kelly's Dolphin reporting or you do not. I don't feel he is always accurate, but some interesting pointed questions about Ryan Tannehill and his opinion and the one thing about Omar is he is very matter of fact and blunt. Like him or not he is at A LOT of Dolphin practices and covers this team pretty closely.

What are YOUR thoughts to the following:

Dolphin Fan Question to Omar: Do you think Tannehill will be accurate when throwing the deep ball this year?

Omar replied: No. I've never seen it. Not A & M and not in practice.

Omar also commented about Philbin's speed comments on Tannehill and that they are kind of telling. You sense Philbin feels Tannehill should be processing the field by now.

Omar also mentions that Miami will consistently be a .500 team that will lose an extra two games due to QB play or win an extra 2 games because of QB play.

Tbh, Omars been saying this since last season so this isn't anything really new

There are reasons to like Tannehill and reasons to be concerned. Anyone who thinks they have a good read on him is full of crap. He gets another season to show if he is trending more towards a top 10ish QB or if what we've seen so far is his peak.

The guy can't do anything to alter opinions on him until training camp starts so its not worth getting worked up over it.

ag_fin if anyone follows Omar, yes of course he has been consistently saying this since day one.

My point is that here we go into year 3 with Tannehill and his concern is STILL the same and just wanted to gauge other fans thoughts against that.

What's to get worked up about? Of course, Tannehill now has a new system new coordinator, it was simply to mention that Omar still feels no matter what he doesn't have the knack to hit the deep ball.

And your right either we will see a progression in year three of the same and not to draw comparisons, but Henne missed on things that just led to him being out the door.

My hope is that Tannehill clicks this year and this is truly "IMO" his make or break year. Nowadays the patience level to produce gets antsy and changes happen quickly if someone doesn't show a franchise QB pedigree.

Oh ok I got you, my opinion is that he needs a little more confidence to gt the ball out earlier and anticipate it. I think he does that with Hartline but really only him and that takes away from making him better. The deep ball may never really come but I think he can still be successful with his legs and connecting ENOUGH on the deep ball. A guy like Cutler and Stafford are very good with the deep balls but so erratic at times and they're like Tannehill in they make their teams an 8 win team and now its what they do during the season that can take them to 11 or 12 wins too. We just have to see what the progression is for T-Hill this season

Great analogy AG. Well said.

THanks and look at the contract Stafford just got and thats out of fear of not getting a qb to replace him. Most of these qbs arent locks and none f these qbs in this draft wow me so lets be careful. Remember how everybody loved RG3? Imagine if we traded for him?! We'd have questions if he can even survive and we'd be down MANY PICKS so we're not in super danger but we still arent sure how good/great T-Hill will be

This tends to be a divisive topic. My comment wasn't directed at you, but more so that this doesn't need to be debated yet again.

I used to follow and read Kelly because he was always writing/tweeting something. The more I did the more I realized he's not the expert he thinks he is and when called out he resorts to belittling you. I saw Phins Rock absolutely take him to school on twitter one day and all the guy could do was fire back obnoxious replies.

I saw Philbin's remarks and didn't interpret any disappointment or concern. He acknowledged improvements need to be made and that seems to be universal for the whole team.

As for the team, there are A LOT of other things that could happen to make them better than .500. We focus on Tannehill missing the deep throw because its the exciting play. 3rd down stops, 3rd down drops, missed tackles, lack of running vision, lack of blocking, coaching decisions, etc...they are all reasons that keep this team at .500.

Tannehill could have put up the same performance and this team could have been 11-5 due to improvements in those other areas.

Omar Kelly put up certain requirements, goals if you will, that Tannehill would need to meet to show he is improving.

Those included throwing for over 3500 yards, completing over 60% of his passes, throwing more than 20 TDs and cutting down on interceptions and getting a QB rating in the mid 80s.

Tannehill met 3 out of 5 of those and before the team collapsed in the last tw games (coincidentally Tannehill went into those games with a knee injury in his left leg) he was meeting all of them.

Kelly is always "hard" on QBs. I wouldn't buy into it too much.

And all Philbin said is that they have seen improvement from year 1 to year 2 and are looking to see further improvement.



This is about as speculative and leading as it can get and that is the problem with Omar's reporting.

Well said. QB play was the least of our problems.

Not being able to pass or run block, not sticking with the run, not being able to stop the run, dropped passes, missed tackles, inconsistencies on 3rd down, giving up plays on 3rd and long, a locker room scandal that shook the team to its core, a coaching staff unwillingly to turn on a dime or adjust.

All these things were problems with this team.

If you put Tannehill on a team with a good defense, a solid running game, decent receivers and a competent coaching staff, you're in the playoffs and competing.

Idk if you agree but other then the NO and the 2nd Buffalo game the other 6 losses whether drops, bad oline play, coaching or whatever we could've/should've won? I think that if the o line improves everything can flow better. Running game can improve, I would HOPE more designed roll outs to use T-Hills athleticism to get wrs and tes open more often and overall more improvements on offense

Literally every scouting report had the following to say about Tannehill coming out of college:

Strong arm, accurate on the run, throws the ball outside the hashes with zip, accurate on short and intermediate throws, all the physical tools to be an NFL QB, will lock on to primary receiver at times, intelligent, good at improvising but will make a head scratching throw or two, needs a couple of years of development before facing live bullets.

Pay attention to the last one, the scouting report is that he was raw, inexperienced, needed to sit for a year or two, needed refinement etc.

Well he started from day 1 and from year 1 to year 2 his numbers improved, except for interceptions. But interceptions go up when you're asked to throw more and since the Dolphins went away from the run a lot, that's what happened.

So, according to many so-called experts, Tannehill was supposed to sit for a year, maybe two. He wasn't ready for live bullets. He would take a few years to reach his ceiling.

As far as I am concerned, he is ahead of the curve.

If he had been a 3 or 4 year started in college and was still locking into receivers and making boneheaded throws, a la Chad Henne, I'd be concerned. He was a one year starter in college and not only did he play much better than Chad Henne ever could, he had one of the best statistical seasons at QB for the Dolphins since Dan Marino retired. I know that isn't a very high ceiling, but I consider this combined with his relative lack of experience as cause for hope.

On top of all that, has he ever had a coach develop him as a QB? Let's see what Lazor can do with the kid. This will be his first time with a true QB mentor.

Good stuff Rich and very well said on all fronts. I personally also believe Tannehill has made positive strides. Take away those last two utterly disappointing games and he was really progressing so well (IMO).

I was at that New England home game and every Dolphins fan came away from that last game winning drive that he was turning the corner.

I am excited to see what year three has in store and especially if we can improve that awful line.

Just think and no comparisons at all, but imagine if Jimmy Johnson gave up on Troy Aikman after his first 2 seasons? Tannehill still carries enough tools, seems to be a smart kid and I am also excited to see him get away from Sherman's nipple and go under the innovative Lazor.

Imagine if SD gave Drew Brees 1 more year instead of thinking he wasnt the guy when they drafted Phillip Rivers

What's funny about playoffs and competing is I honestly believe in my mind that if we made the playoffs we weren't going to flop out. Our players minds were already sold just anxiously waiting for the media to report the same team that got rocked by the bully scandal and losing to the then winless Bucs, makes the playoffs.

Up until the Bills 0-19 loss we had only 2 games that we lost by more than 1 possession..New Orleans and New England (Don't forget Oliver Vernon "batting the ball forward" penalty after the Sack Fumble). Other than the disaster last two games, N.O. and N.E., we lost by a combined 12 points.

That's why I believe with everything that was wrong with our team last year, and for us to NOT play like Houston, or Cleveland, or Oakland...we really have potential to be a great team once we seal the leaks.

Year 3 should tell us a lot.

I agree, as far as Tannehill's development is concerned, he's checking all of the boxes. His rookie season was a typical rookie season. He had the ups and downs you'd expect from a kid that was thrown into the fire like he was. His second season he improved in almost every statistical category possible despite being protected by the worst offensive line in the NFL. Again, about what you'd expect a young quarterback to do when put in that situation. Nothing I've seen from Tannehill so far has me worried that he's not on track. I fully expect to see him increase his completion percentage again, throw more touchdowns again, and throw fewer interceptions in the process.

If the Dolphins give the kid better protection (doesn't have to be excellent, just mediocre), give him a consistent rushing attack (doesn't have to be excellent, just decent) to feed off of, and he works well with Lazor's new ideas, then I think this team is well on its way to a ten or maybe even eleven win season. I feel the acquisitions of Albert, Smith, and Moreno have us well on our way to accomplishing those things.

How does one just "take away two games" like that? Playoffs on the line ..... vs. division rivals and ones who should've been beaten. Those games were humongous flops.

The body of work is still extremely inconsistent.

Rock, Remember 1993, the year of the Thanksgiving Leon Lett game when Miami was 9-2 and seeded as one of the top NFL teams only to lose their last FIVE games in a row and miss the playoffs altogether?

Remember when Miami had 19 former first round draft picks and started 4-0, finished 9-7, got embarrassed against Buffalo in Shula's last game?

Remember Marino & HC Jimmy Johnson, supposed to go to a Superbowl together only to lose their last game together 62-7

Ha! Ha! Not exactly relevant.....just expressing my memories of other meltdowns and there are plenty more to list too as a beloved Dolphins fan!!!

Every year the annual November-December swoon. They'd always tease you with the hot starts and then BAM smack you in the face.

Those two games are prime examples of how the team was flawed. The weather in Buffalo made it smart to play ground and pound, but of course Miami was incapable of that. Tannehill's knee injury that game pretty much helped him suck in the Jets game. It was so obvious he couldn't step into his throws and his accuracy was horrible. And again Miami was incapable of running the ball and the coaches were clueless to the fact that maybe putting Matt Moore to create a play action deep pass game would at least keep the Jets' defense honest.

But why are we so quick to praise Tanny when we win and then call the team flawed when we lose?

I do agree though that if the man couldn't step into his throws then he had no business being out there. Not sure that was 100% the case though.

Never said he didn't stink in those games or any other losses. I've accepted the reality that he is not going to be the next Rodgers or Brees. He is not a guy right now who can lift a team consistently, but he has clutch moments. He made some bad throws and contributed to the losses.

And that is why I think everyone in here gets so stirred up. When he plays well they want him to be Marino, and when he has a bad game others jump to the conclusion that its time to play someone else. Why not just accept who he is and see if he can pull a Joe Flacco or Eli Manning?

Watch the Jets game again and his throwing motion. He looks like a statue and just tries to wing it. You could see it in his lack of confidence too. As much as I don't know if the staff trusts his game managing ability, I think Moore + a heavy ground attack would have been the better option.

A dime?

The coaching staff showed that it couldn't turn on a silver dollar, especially in regards to running the ball. Sometimes you have to run the ball just to run the ball, even if you're not doing it particularly well. Sherman refused to acknowledge that fact and Philbin refused to set his coordinator straight.

Philbin refused to set his coordinator straight.

Philbin needs to do a 180 this year. I feel that he should have been fired.

I could have sworn I read an interview or two where Sherman said he wanted to run more but Philbin preferred the pass attack.

it's a joke, Philbin should not be here anymore.