We Dolphin fans are a quarterback starved group of people. So, when GM Jeff Ireland made Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill the first Dolphins quarterback drafted in the first round since Dan Marino, we put an exclamation point on the fact that Ireland thinks this kid is a franchise quarterback. That's 29 years between Tannehill and Marino, my friends.
Jeff Ireland said this when the St. Louis Rams auctioned off their overall #2 pick in the draft last March:
"I didn't see a huge separation between Griffin and Ryan at the time. I just didn't see it."
Add to that a head-to-head game where Texas A&M embarrassed Baylor, 55-28 last October. Which team had the better defense? Well, let's say that Baylor was ranked 20th and Texas A&M was ranked 21st before that game. Baylor finished the season at 10-3 while Texas A&M limped to a 7-6 record. BUT, we will just say that Texas A&M had a better defense than Baylor. Still, you have to be happy about the way Ryan Tannehill lit up Baylor for 6 touchdown passes.
What I am going to say is to give Tannehill some time to get more polished. While he is saying that 85% of the playbook is the same as what OC Sherman had at Texas A&M, the NFL moves at a much faster rate of play than college. Let's not throw him into the starting role just yet.
Who will have the better career? I think the Redskins gave up way too much for him ... and they drafted another quarterback with their limited amount of picks. Let them continue to add high priced free agents to make up for the lack of draft picks. It hasn't done the Redskins a lot of good over the years, with the lack of talent around RGIII, I give Tannehill the better career.
If you have not seen this interview that Jon Gruden had with Ryan Tannehill, let me just tell you that I highly recommended it.
Speaking of Ryan Tannehill, how about that babe that he's married to? Sporting News said that she stole the show and wrote this about her following her appearance at the NFL Draft last week:
"The aspiring model, who tied the knot with Tannehill in January as Lauren Ufer, needed only a slim red dress and a splash of TV time to turn herself into an Internet sensation. Before taking her talents—er, husband—to South Beach, Mrs. Tannehill lit up Twitter to the tune of 800 tweets in the 10 minutes following her draft debut."
I have a gripe. Every friggin' mock had the Dolphins drafting Ryan Tannehill in the first round and said that we needed to make this pick. So, the Dolphins make this pick, and most of those same "experts" graded us down for selecting Tannehill? What is wrong with them?