Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
If day two of the Miami Dolphins’ minicamp is any indication of how well Ryan Tannehill will play this season, then the quarterback better start preparing his Pro Bowl plans. The newly paid signal caller wowed witnesses on Wednesday with his accuracy, his deep passes and his success in the red zone. Tannehill tossed seven total touchdowns with most coming inside the scoring area. He made several pinpoint passes that would have upped his quarterback rating if it had been in the regular season.
Tannehill’s terrific day was a continuation of what has been a spectacular spring for the former Texas A&M Aggies player. A great season from Tannehill would mean a lot to Miami’s playoff push. Before we thrust Tannehill into the class of fellow 2012 draftee Andrew Luck, however, it must be noted that a lot of the work he has done in the minicamp and the OTAs were against backup defenders. What the Dolphins’ quarterback does when the real training camp and exhibition games get started will be a better indication of his improvement.
Elsewhere on offense, Tannehill’s receivers were on point on Wednesday. It figures that that unit would be wonderful if the quarterback was clicking, but it was still exciting to hear about. Wideouts Greg Jennings and Jarvis Landry and tight end Jordan Cameron all had productive days. Imagine how potent Miami’s passing game could be if Jennings plays more like early Green Bay Packers‘ Jennings than veteran help Minnesota Vikings‘ Jennings. Landry lassoed in some tight touchdown-producing catches and was also the recipient of a nicely thrown deep ball from Tannehill. Head coach Joe Philbin did admit to reporters after the practice that he would like Landry to keep better care of the football on punt returns. Landry has amazing open field running abilities, but I think it would be wiser to protect him from injury and let someone like LaMichael James handle return duties.
There is no secret that Miami is still searching for starting offensive guards and a sleeper may have emerged at camp. Jeff Linkenbach was brought in to add some depth to the Dolphins’ line. Linkenbach lined up at both guard spots and right tackle as well on Wednesday. This comes on the heels of Dallas Thomas’ less-than-stellar outing on the first day of the minicamp. The Dolphins should not be ashamed of starting the experienced Linkenbach in front of any of his younger linemates if he plays the best during the preseason.
The defense left a little to be desired on day two, but the return of Kelvin Sheppard at linebacker was important. Sheppard had an excused absence on Tuesday, but he will have no excuses if he fails to cement one of the starting linebacker spots. Reports on Sheppard’s play were encouraging, but he had to take second-string status as Chris McCain batted first on the strongside. Both Sheppard and McCain showed some skills last year when they received a chance to play so it would be interesting to see how a showdown between the two ‘backers plays out this summer.
Day three of the minicamp scheduled for Thursday has already been cancelled by Philbin. He basically told reporters that he was satisfied and that there wasn’t much more to see before training camp. Hopefully, Philbin’s eyes haven’t deceived him because starting July 28 his job goes on the chopping block.
