Back in April, the buzz in the media circles had the Dolphins looking at defense with the first pick of the draft. Some pundits figured the Dolphins would take a QB in the second round of the draft or even later. Afterall, the offensive line, especially at right tackle and guard was a swinging gate allowing over 34 sacks and needed to be shored up. However, in April, Jeff Ireland reversed course and selected the best player on the board and the future of the Miami Dolphins in Ryan Tannehill.
Despite the early growing pains in complaining about reps in minicamp and the difficult handling pressure, Tannehill has improved leaps and bounds between signing his contract on the 28th of July and making his debut last night in the middle of a typical South Florida downpour.
Tannehill was extremely poised, demonstrated a mastery of the offense and threw 14-21 for 167 and a TD. Even though Tannehill showed he can carve up a second and third team defense, he did it in front of a pleased crowd that cheered and somehow forgot about last year’s 6-10 mark.
With earlier news of David Garrard’s upcoming knee surgery, it was Matt Moore’s turn to convince both Philbin and Sherman that he was the clear cut starter. However, Moore threw for a paltry 79 yards and did not put the Dolphins in the redzone. Moore threw an interception and didn’t trust his receivers enough so he defaulted to his favorite Tight end target in Anthony Fasano. However, Moore did move the ball down the field, but when it came to precision of carrying the offense to the redzone, he didn’t get close.
Enter Ryan Tannehill, no picks, almost two touchdowns after one was overturned after Roberto Wallace caught the ball in the endzone and evidence of veteran poise in the pocket. Seems to be that Tannehill wants the ball more than Moore. Evidently, Moore might be holding the clipboard this season.
Key scratches in the game were Clyde Gates with a leg injury and on Defense Kevin Burnett. Of course the favorite to start the season, David Garrard is now that veteran quarterback on the outside looking in with Tannehill showing signs not seen here since Marino.
Things expect to be mighty interesting in Davie this week. Might interesting in the meeting and film rooms as Joe Philbin has to make a decision between Matt Moore and Rookie Ryan Tannehill. His decision could stand to decide the already cloudy future of the Miami Dolphins.
Happy Pre-Season Football Everyone!
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