Dolphins won’t commit to Ryan Tannehill as starter
Posted by Darin Gantt on September 22, 2014, 1:43 PM EDT
Well, this should be a fun trip to London for the Dolphins this week.
During his press conference today, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin refused to commit to former first-rounder Ryan Tannehill for their game against the Raiders at Wembley Stadium.
After some early hedging, Philbin was asked specifically if Tannehill would start against the Raiders.
“We’ll decide our game plan before we leave to play Oakland,” Philbin replied, via Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post.
The No. 8 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft — selected by a guy who no longer works there — Tannehill has slumped this season.
Tannehill helped them to a win over the Patriots in the opener, but his numbers this season are well off his previous pace. He’s only completing 56.5 percent of his passes, and his passer rating his declined each week to get him to 74.1 for the year.
The option is Matt Moore, and Philbin did everything he could to provide no clarity. Asked if the two were competing this week for the job, Philbin replied: “we’ll utilize the players the best way we see fit.”
Tannehill has shown flashes of competence, but nothing about him suggests that he’s going to be anything more than an average NFL quarterback, at best. Moore has shown similar flashes, and lighting a fire under the starter can’t hurt at this stage.[/size]