Ryan Tannehill is well-aware that 2014 is a very crucial season for him. Other quarterbacks in his draft class have already seen the postseason and beyond. Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III appear to rank ahead of him right now and the Miami Dolphins need their third-year pro to make a big leap. Part of that is creating bigger plays, something wide receiver Mike Wallace sees happening a lot next season.
Wallace is in Miami at least for one more season. Both he and team officials have denied any sort of trade happening, mainly due to the size of his contract, and expect much bigger things from Wallace in his second season in South Beach. Wallace got to work at the start of offseason workouts with the team's new offensive coordinator and is already liking what he sees from Tannehill after the offseason.
"My style: Big-play offense," Wallace said, via the Miami Herald. "I see Ryan's excited about it. He's called me about eight, nine times. I just want to make some plays for my team. Go out and make some plays for my team and have a much better year than last year. We can't have the kind of year we had last year. We need to be on the same page."
Wallace is referencing the priority of big down-field plays for 2014. Tannehill told reporters that he and Bill Lazor are focusing on bigger throws and improving his deep ball pass to better use Wallace and the other receivers. According to Pro Football Focus, Tannehill completed 16 of 84 pass attempts of 20 yards or more last season. He had five passes dropped and put up 560 yards total from those 16 completions. The Dolphins want those numbers to increase.
"We have a guy in Mike Wallace who can really stretch the field vertically, as well as some other guys, too," Tannehill said, per the South Florida Sun Sentinel, "but I think everyone when you think deep ball you think Mike Wallace right now. So that's one that I've really been working on is being more consistent on my deep throws and I think it'll match up with our passing game we put in going forward."
Could the increase in downfield throws be a result of inconsistency at the tight end position? Charles Clay did well with 759 yards last season, but Miami is looking for more. Right now, the team is keeping a close eye on both Dustin Keller and Jermichael Finley before the NFL Draft. Both tight ends are coming off injuries, but could be very deadly when healthy. The Dolphins plan on monitoring their medical exams in hopes of adding one or two more weapons to the roster before training camp.
