A Look Back at the Miami Dolphins Rookies I: Ryan Tannehill

The Miami Dolphins are turning their attention to the New York Jets after enjoying the team's schedule bye week this past weekend. But, even as Jets Week gets started, I thought there was time to take a look back over the Dolphins' first six games, focusing on the rookies for the team. Going in the order they were drafted, we will start first with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Round 1, Pick 8: Ryan Tannehill, Quarterback, Texas A&M. Heading into the draft, Tannehill was the player flying up draft boards, and being panned as a player some team would reach to select way earlier than he should be taken. And, when the Dolphins spent the eighth overall pick on the Aggies' quarterback, the ridicule from the "experts," fans from around the league, and even the Dolphins' fans, was pretty outspoken. Tannehill needed to sit for at least a year before he would be ready to start. He was not going to adjust well to the NFL. He had only started 19 games in college.

Six weeks into the season, the Dolphins look like they nailed this pick. NFL.com senior analyst Gil Brandt appeared on the Dolphins' Finsiders radio show last week, saying "I think the Miami Dolphins hit a home run with the bases loaded."

"This is a guy that can be like Matt Ryan and can be the face of the organization. That's really, really important today," Brandt continued. "A lot of people criticized them for picking him. ‘Oh, they picked him too high and he's got to sit for a year and so forth and so on.' You know, I don't see anyone coming to forefront now and saying we made a mistake. All of the sudden everyone kind of likes him, myself included."

Tannehill has blown past all of the expectations. Recently, we took a look at the Aggie's ability to run the Dolphins' no huddle offense. Miami leads the league in no huddle plays, running it on 58.9% of their offensive snaps.

"I think we get to the line quicker obviously and then we are able to assess the defense and get ourselves into a good play," Tannehill said about the no-huddle.

"We got lucky when we drafted that kid at number eight," center Mike Pouncey said this weekend. "Tannehill is going to be an excellent quarterback in this league for a long time."

Tannehill's play has showed that not only was he worthy of the metoric rise up the draft boards last Spring, but the Dolphins may have finally landed the franchise quarterback they have been trying to find over the past 13 seasons.

Brandt said it best during his visit with the Finsiders. "This was a move that I think we'll look back at 10 to 12 years from now and say this is the move that turned the Miami Dolphins around."

My Current Grade for Tannehill: B+