Tannehill is in the best situation for a qb of his caliber. Needs elite level weapons and a elite running game.
Doesn't that mean that a qb of Tannehill's caliber is elite?
The bench mark that is often set for elite level QB's is that they raise the play of the people around them to higher levels than before.
Consider this:
1. They supposed already had an average to above average and sometimes mediocre QB in Mariota
2. The fan base was about to run the coaches out of town. There offensive coordinator and coach looked like a failed experiment
3. They wanted to "improve" their running back situation by praying that they sign our old cast off Kenyan Drake and Derrick henry was on his way to free agency with no real sign of an elite level contract
4. Their receiving core was and is still a joke. No name tight ends. No true numbers one receiver. Adam Humphries was their savior, much like danny armendola was ours last year. Their now superstar receiver AJ Brown is a rookie who people were fearing was a bust.
5. That offensive line was... well offensive. Did you know that Jamil Douglas is starting for them? Good run blockers, but horrible in pass protection (where have we heard that before?)
Yeah, this sound like the perfect situation for a QB of Tannehills caliber to step into and look like a top 5 qb. I know... I know... They were actually elite and they just didn't know it yet. Mariota was such a crappy QB that he couldn't get them there right? Well that could be right, or we could look at how he is performing and be honest evaluators of the situation.
I think we can both agree that the pieces are there for him to be successful, but to make a statement that makes it look like his skill level is really a non factor and that he is being dragged into this elite level of play by those around him ignores the fact that it looks like we had what could be considered better talent here over here is career (Pro-bowl center, A pro bowl Trending Left Tackle, A solid right tackle, Better wide outs, Two really solid running backs) but could not pull it all together. These same pieces are leaving this dumpster fire or an organization and are not just thriving elsewhere, but look above average and become great contributors. Not to mention the fact that you can actually see with your own two eyes that the is the one slinging the ball all over the field in ways the most quarterbacks never will, and you saw the man throw it like that down here on multiple occasions
I am not going to sit here and tell you that I know what the secret sauce is between successful football organizations and the ones that just plane suck. But the good ones have been consistently good, the bad ones consistently bad and the mediocre one like the dolphins... well... you know... stay medicore.
We went from the shula era... to Jimmy Johonson era... to the big Tuna era.. and now.. to the nobodies.
Based on his past work, Grier looks like he is a pretty good talent evaluator... but until he can put together a coaching staff or finds a Seasoned coach that can. It looks like we are screwed.
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