Ryan Tannehill has the Miami Dolphins in contention to make the playoffs this season after a Thursday night win over the Buffalo Bills. While the win was not completely pretty, it was a win and now the Dolphins are chasing the New England Patriots for the top spot in the AFC East. However, just because Tannehill is pushing the team into the postseason, his future as a franchise quarterback is still in question.
Tannehill's tenure as quarterback in Miami has been a rollercoaster. He has yet to discover any kind of consistency and the other quarterbacks in his draft class are not helping his future. Tannehill was drafted the same year as Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck who have all tasted playoff success. However, Tannehill has not and the Dolphins are questioning if he is the right man for the job.
NFL Media's Ian Rapoport is reporting that there is talk regarding Tannehill's future and whether or not consistency will keep him from being an elite quarterback in the NFL.
"(Dolphins officials) are not ready at this point to declare Tannehill is the quarterback of the future," Rapoport said. "They are not ready to say he is their franchise quarterback. The Dolphins sources I've talked to are cautiously optimistic that Tannehill will eventually get there, mainly because of the talent he has and the improvement that he has shown this year."
Tannehill has been progressing in 2014. In his first three seasons in the league, he was average if not worse. As far as the playoffs go, it does not help that the New England Patriots are in the team's division. Head coach Joe Philbin believes that the quarterback has shown great strides of improvement this season that could spell out a positive future.
Tannehill's inconsistencies could be summed up to a weak offensive line that continues to suffer injuries. The Dolphins have done all they can to surround the quarterback with top weapons like Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry and Charles Clay. A lack of a run game from Lamar Miller is not helping, but facing teams like the Bills is good for wins.
The Dolphins could easily draft a quarterback late this offseason in order to pressure Tannehill. If he can somehow get Miami to the postseason, which is still slim, his future might be a bit brighter, but Miami fans should expect the team to add depth in the offseason.
