The Miami Dolphins cannot keep this going any longer.
After suffering a dispiriting home loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football and not getting much of anything from quarterback Tyler Huntley in the air, the Dolphins have to stop pretending this quarterback plan is going to work if they still want to make the playoffs this season.
For as talented as this offense is and how much the franchise was expected to meaningfully contend this year, the Dolphins are going to have to swallow their pride and bring quarterback Ryan Tannehill back to salvage the season.
Sure, bringing back your former first-round quarterback who flamed out in your uniform and revived his career with the Titans would require eating more than a bit of humble pie. However, Tannehill is the ultimate escape hatch at the position in free agency. Miami needs a miracle right now to get this offense going in any direction that’s positive. That miracle may be returning to the past.
Huntley is a career backup, and there’s no shame in him not quite rising to the occasion on Monday night. Skylar Thompson hasn’t really shown much to give you hope he can lead the franchise past a game or two, and turning to Tim Boyle just feels like a bad idea.
Tua Tagovailoa, the team’s primary quarterback, is on injured reserve right now and facing a pretty severe concussion situation. There is no guarantee he returns this season, and Miami would play with fire to put him back in the lineup this season. The risk of another concussion so soon after the one he sustained a couple of weeks ago is palpable and deeply worrisome.
Signing Tannehill gives the franchise a perfectly viable reason to allow Tagovailoa the year to heal before playing contact football again. The veteran started in eight games for the Titans last year, and he was okay. He doesn’t have Tagovailoa’s ceiling, but his floor is steady enough.
Mike McDaniel has built the fastest offense in the NFL, and all he really needs his quarterback to do is point and throw with enough arm power to hit one of the speedy weapons at Miami’s disposal. Tannehill can do that.
McDaniel is still regarded as one of the brightest offensive minds in the game, so a down year won’t put him on the hot seat. However, this Dolphins team isn’t getting any younger. Maximizing a very weird season and a suddenly open AFC should be a priority for a talented team like Miami, even with a 1-3 record. That’s where the Cincinnati Bengals are, hypothetically!
Even if the advanced statistics aren’t great, maybe Tannehill could at least pick the offensive side of the ball up from the bottom of the league. Maybe?
Miami was dead last on offense in DVOA and 30th in defense *before* tonight. Tua alone would not save this team
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) October 1, 2024
Tannehill coming back to the team that drafted him to save its season could be a really fun story, even if you cannot guarantee he’d be able to do enough to win a division with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets… defense or even push for a wild-card spot. However, this team is destined for a lost season as it is without a meaningful swap at quarterback.
It’s entirely possible the Dolphins could keep playing quarterback musical chairs until Tagovailoa returns, but that feels like a terrible idea and a huge gamble with the franchise quarterback’s long-term viability to play football.
You can’t say with confidence that adding Tannehill is enough to save the Dolphins’ suddenly shaky season, but you can say it’s a much better idea than any of the other ones present for the team at quarterback right now.
Why not give it a go if Tannehill is open to the idea of going home? He’s as good an option as Miami is going to get right now to right the ship.
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