I have been wanting to do a piece on the Miami Dolphins QB for a long time. There’s so much of a debate on what kind of QB he is. Some don’t even believe he is a QB. I am going to get to that. But, first, I need to get something out of the way.

I love Tannehill’s character. I have no problem with his character. He is a hard worker. One of the first guys in the building I am told. He takes pay cuts to help the front office build this team. He doesn’t come with any baggage. I can see why the Miami Dolphins wanted him as the face of the franchise. How I view him as a person should not be included with how I see him as a player. So, let’s move on.

Tannehill was drafted 8th overall in the 2012 draft. He was the first QB selected in the first round since Dan Marino. Now, just from those two sentences alone, what sort of expectations would you have for Ryan Tannehill? What is fair? Let me tell you mine.

You draft a QB in the top ten, he must be an immediate starter. Looking back, that was probably a dumb idea to think because I think Tannehill riding the pine for a year could have been beneficial for him. Too bad, #17’s only competition was David Garrard and Matt Moore. Moore’s career was already out the door and Garrard’s was just getting there at the time.

Now, I didn’t expect Ryan Tannehill to be the second coming of Dan Marino but after 7 years, not only can Tannehill not get this team to the playoffs, he can’t even produce a winning season. Tannehill lovers, please! The Dolphins were 8-5 when they played the Cardinals, they hadn’t won the game yet. Moore may have been struggling but that is to be expected from your backup QB who has to shake off the rust after not playing for 5 years.

The Dolphins have suffered 2 straight losses and it’s only the beginning of October. For the first time this season, the Dolphins don’t even make it into the red-zone during the Bengals game. They are 17-55 on 3rd downs whereas their opponents are 28-63. Now, to be fair, I don’t think that is entirely Tannehill’s fault, but it shows in our time of possession as our opponents have outdone us for 166:38 to our 133:23. That means, our opponents through 5 games, have been able to hold onto the ball for more than 2 quarters. That gives us a 50-50 chance to win ball games. Who’s ready for another 8-8 season? Show of hands? I’m not putting mine up. But, with Ryan Tannehill as our QB, that is exactly what we are on course for.

Now, let’s talk about my feelings about the QB position. You can win games being a game manager. Now, what’s a game managing QB mean to me? A game managing QB is someone who hands the ball off to his RB and makes that critical throw whenever the team gets into 3rd and long situations.

An elite QB is someone who despite no running back committee, a porous o-line and a weak defense, still can rally the offense and pull out a victory. Tannehill is not an elite QB. He could be a successful game-managing QB if he had the right pieces behind him. We have seen that. But, he is just a guy playing QB. He is not anything special and he needs way too much help to be good.

Now, there’s been some discussion that he is really a WR. All I can say about that is two things:

1) Why kind of competitive ball player who wants to go to the pros, elects to stay at a school to play a different position when there are hundreds of schools out there that are in need of a QB? Have you no self-respect for yourself?

2) The constant lack of no competition has got me wondering if there is something internally going on with Ryan Tannehill. Like maybe he really doesn’t have any confidence in his play-making abilities and the Dolphins have sort of hand-held him through this whole process. I mean, the guy is willing to take pay cuts. That could be because he knows he is not good.

There were a lot of Dolphin fans on Sunday calling for Gase’s head. All I got to say about that is this. Gase has had not even 3 years with this team yet. Tannehill is in his 7th. Yes, I am including his one year on IR because you know what? He should have learned something. He is at the midway point of his career for crying out loud. This is his year to shine and he is letting this fan-base down.

I am done with the mediocre QB. Unless, by some miracle, he can be the guy who can sustain drives and keep the ball out of the opposing QB’s hands, it’s time to trade him and get what we can for him and let the “suck for Herbert” sweepstakes begin. The Dolphins may be able to win another 3 games with Tannehill but what is the point? The point is to get back to the playoffs this year and it isn’t going to happen with Ryan Tannehill. That much I do know.

Steve Ross, please, please let’s move on from Ryan Tannehill. Can we pretty please with a cherry on top? Let this regime continue to build up this roster. They still need to work on this defense and o-line. Yes, I believe Miami Dolphins Owner is Ryan Tannehill’s biggest advocate.  Dolphins need an elite QB until this ball club can overcome the roster deficiencies because I am tired of losing. I am tired of the constant regime changes and delusions that Tannehill is something he is not. You got your football people. Now, let them do their job.

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