In his first five NFL seasons Reggie Bush showed little of the success he had as a college back and looked poised to become yet another bust, until a change of scenery rejuvinated his career.

Coming out of college the former USC Trojan generated a lot of excitement throughout the league, leading many to believe that Bush would be selected 1st overall by the Houston Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft. As it turns out the Texans made the right decision, passing on Bush and opting to draft defensive end Mario Williams who has tallied 53 sacks in a mere six seasons. However Bush didn't wait long to hear his name called, the New Orleans Saints made him the No. 2 overall pick. Once considered an elite featured back, Bush did not live up to expectations in the black and gold in large part due to the fact that he couldn't remain healthy for a full 16 game schedule. 

This all changed once the Miami Dolphins took a chance of him. After losing their long time running back duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in free agency, the Dolphins needed someone to fill the void and were intrigued by Bush's overall skill set not only on the ground but also in the passing game. In his first year in South Beach, Bush competed with Daniel Thomas for the starting role. Although the Dolphins coveted Thomas, trading up to the second round to draft him out of Kansas State, Bush easily won the job. 

The future is now in Miami! August 20^th at 3:01 pm the Miami Dolphins quarterback competition came to an end as the Dolphins announced that Ryan Tannehill will be named the starting QB going into the season.

As PBP’s Ben Volin noted, number 17 Tannehill will be the 17^th starting QB for the Dolphins since Dan Marino.

The rookie was able to impress in camp having solid practices and strong outing in his first preseason game followed up with an alright performance in Carolina. Moore didn’t really take advantage of the situation as despite being the team’s MVP last season clearly lacks the upside and talent of Tannehill.

When David Garrard went down with his injury, this announcement seemed a bit inventible, and like most predicted the Dolphins chose to go with the kid.

CBS’s Pete Prisco has said over and over “Play the kid “, Prisco also said on his twitter account, “If a young first-round QB can't start because a team is worried about psyche, they drafted the wrong guy. “

Tannehill isn’t in the ideal situation due to his lack of weapons and now questions surrounding the offensive line. With that being said, Tannehill has looked like the quarterback that gives Miami the best chance at winning this season.

Tannehill had a head start from most rookies out of the gates as he had a good grasp of the playbook having already worked with the offense and Mike Sherman in college.

While it is exciting that Tannehill is being given the keys, my biggest concern with this decision is not based on Tannehill’s skills or comprehension of the offense but rather the tools and weapons he has around him.

Time will tell on how the Ryan Tannehill era goes but let’s hope for the best! Phins up!

Dating back to last season and a 6-10 finish, optimism reigned true with coaching search and plethora of coaching candidates that interviewed for the head coaching job in Miami.  As Joe Philbin was hired, many fans praised the hiring of an offensive football coach by Ireland in that the Dolphins were going to undergo a culture change for the better.  With Philbin being labeled as the mastermind of the Green Bay Packers Offense, Dolphins fans fantasized about Aaron Rogers type quarterbacks ready to lead the team since Dan Marino.  Outside of the organization, bloggers and beat reporters grew excited about the Dolphins offense changing to put points on the board run a multitude of quick plays and compete with the likes of AFC foes New England and the New York Jets.  

However after three weeks of training camp and two preseason games later, the Miami Dolphins look like the same team from 2011 providing a lack-luster effort up and down the roster.  More and more the Dolphins look and seem like the 2007 Dolphins who finished 1-15 under a coach who shall remain nameless.  Of course I may be wrong, but here is why I feel that the Dolphins are headed for disaster:

First, the Miami Dolphins are not finishing drives in the pre season.  The offense has accounted for a total of 7 first half points, countless three and outs and drops galore on offense. Sure the Miami Dolphins have a shiny new ferari at quarterback in Ryan Tannehill, but his numbers reflect positively only because Tannehill has yet to throw an interception or cause a turnover and has thrown for more yardage than other rostered QBs and two scores.  However, Tannehill fails to step up in the pocket when trying to avert a rush and has not completed passes on 3rd downs to sustain drives early in a game.  The running game looks non-existent and scared to hit the hole on a 3rd and short.  A paltry 2.9 yards per carry on Friday is akin to the Miami Dolphins season in 2004 without Ricky Williams.

Next, the defense's effort is not showing up on gameday.  Regardless of the injuries to Wake, Dansby, Burnett, and McDaniel, the defense missed tackles left and right in the first quarter of the Carolina Panthers game.  In fact, even though the reserves were in there, the zone defense they played got flat-out carved up by second year quarterback Cam Newton finding his tight ends over the middle.  Opposing offenses have been able to attack the middle on this defense no matter who has been playing out there dating back to last season.  New coach Kevin Coyle has to tighten things up and evaluate and decide on the best 11 for this defense.  Many are starting to doubt that this defense was better when run by Coach Nolan last season.  The physical nature of the defense is just not there.

Lastly, there is no "I" in team.  It is apparent that certain players such as Chad Johnson, who has been released for good reasons and Vontae Davis are making each battle in a game about themselves.  I don't understand the battle between Steve Smith and Davis and how that was good for comradery of the team defensively in the long run.  Davis has been shown pouting about the heat and challenging the coaches on his conditioning while on Hard Knocks, but this latest demonstration of immaturity reeks Vernon Davis, his older brother.  Perhaps Vontae Davis will repeat this performance and then actually be kicked out to the locker room during a game by Joe Philbin. 

Frankly, from the outside, the Dolphins after two games this preseason look like a mess.  Joe Philbin has his hands full of a myriad of issues: Players are not executing the systems in place, coaches are not reaching the players and gaining their trust, and the media is hovering over Davie and starting to doubt this first year coach.  

Maybe Ross and Ireland had all of this wrong when he hired Philbin or maybe the Dolphins are just as broken as they are and cannot be fixed. 

Week 2 of the preseason has now come and gone and the Dolphins haven’t exactly got off to the most encouraging start. Whether its poor preparation or poor execution, the team hasn’t been hitting on all cylinders to say the least.

There are several question marks remaining before the season starts with the most obvious being who will Joe Philbin name his starting quarterback.

With Ryan Tannehill coming out in weak 2 with an average performance, he might have actually taken a step forward as his main competition Matt Moore did nothing to step up and take a strangle hold of the QB battle. Tannehill however wasn’t given a lot of time to prove what he could do as he was constantly under pressure with an O line performing very poorly.

The safe money however barring any radical changes in the competition would be that Ryan Tannehill will debut as the team’s starting QB.

Major questions that came from the second game many different areas

1) Offensive Line ( rookie Jonathan Martin ) – While the offensive line struggled as a whole, the rookie Martin’s struggle were on display getting beat several times including on more
than one occasion which led to sacks. The offensive line has to learn how to gel and play more as a unit. Many of Martin’s issues are coachable and can be fixed. Philbin mentioned he is not disappointed in the young lineman and still has high expectations for him.

2) Absence of a number 1, 2 or even 3 receivers – One thing that might hold back the Dolphins from starting Tannehill is the fact he wouldn’t be given many weapons at his disposal. No WR
has really shined with the opportunity to move up on the depth chart. We are still waiting for a breakout performance from any of the receivers. No WR has really taken advantage of the fact that Chad is no longer in the mix.

3) The secondary – The secondary didn’t really make any strides after a poor performance in week 1, Davis is still struggling to impress and find himself back with the number 1 unit

4) Lack of depth on defense – With Wake, Burnett and Dansby all out, no backup player really was able to rise to the occasion and make an impact. The 1^st team unit came out with a
lack of fire and intensity and it lead to a quick 17-0 Carolina lead. While the defense wasn’t really a concern going into this season, the unit certainly hasn’t instilled confidence into the fan base.

5) Tight End coverage still seems to be a concern, it’s been 3-4 years now this defense has struggled covering tight ends and when having to face Gronk + HernDog and Dustin Keller amongst
others it could make for more fans covering the faces with their hands.

This team has a lot of work to do and I think the preparation by Philbin and his stuff needs to get better as well. Execution and intensity seem to be an issue with this team, as the
fire just doesn’t seem to be there. On the bright side at least we MIGHT have found a QB.

Back in 1983 the Dolphins drafted a first round QB named Dan Marino, the organization was never the same following that day. Fast forward the clock to 2012, where the Dolphins for the first time since 83’ used a first round draft pick on a QB.

As the second preseason game is underway tonight, the Ryan Tannehill era begins. Will this be the first start of many to come down the road in the next 10 years? The fan base is sure to get a boost of excitement as rumors of a great week of practice for Ryan have fans curious and eager to see what the kid can do against a first team defense.

Ryan is also schedule to play almost, if not the whole 1^st quarter. Tannehill is set to take around 20-30 snapes tonight. All eyes will be watching the young QB to see if he can lock up the starting job for week 1. Should Tannehill have a performance similar to his week 1 preseason debut, it just might seal the deal on him being the opening day starter. Granted Tannehill might have won the job the unconventional way (David Garrard’s injury), the rookie just wants a chance to lead this team and become the player the Dolphins hoped he would be when they used a high draft pick on him. There is no going back now however, the Dolphins have given Tannehill the keys to the car.

Note that the Panthers defense isn’t fully loaded as their pro bowl middle linebacker will be out this week. Tannehill will have to build a strong relationship with his average receiving corps and will hopefully look to find the endzone at least once this week.

Last week, Tannehill avoided creating any turnovers and he will look to follow that up this week.

Well the wait is over, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise but the Ryan Tannehill begins tonight. If things work out remember the date 08/17/2012. If not well then add him to the list of Dolphins QB flops.

Here’s to hoping! PhinsUp !