Our first look at Miami's new Bill Lazor-led offense featured crisp, clean play from quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
The Dolphins starter was a perfect 6-of-6 passing with a touchdown pass in Friday's 16-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The 10-play series featured an up-tempo Dolphins offense that carved its way through Atlanta's defense with ease. We don't make much of preseason action, but Tannehill looked sharp.
"My job right now is to push him. I've got to make it very hard for him out here on the practice field," Lazor told The Miami Herald. "I heard a rumor that some people reported that we've made it hard for him on the field. That's on purpose. That's how you build a quarterback, and he's coming."
Lazor contributed to the development of Nick Foles last season, helping the Eagles quarterback to an outrageous 27:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. The focus with Tannehill has centered around improved footwork inside an offense that plans to move at a rapid clip.
"We just taught him how we want it to be," Lazor said of Tannehill's movement. "We explained it to him, we gave him some drills on how to get it, and he's working his butt off to get it right."
That's important for an offense that plans to make the most of Tannehill's ability to throw on the move and use his feet to escape the pocket, an aspect of his game the team is pleased with considering the passer's plus athleticism.
Still, Tannehill is a work in progress. His 17 interceptions from last season could have been worse factoring in his league-leading 11 dropped picks, per Football Outsiders. His play wasn't helped by last year's train wreck of an offensive line or then-coordinator Mike Sherman's unabashedly vanilla scheme, but Tannehill remains one of the league's true enigmas under center after two seasons.
Lazor's work with the signal-caller remains one of the offseason's more underreported stories, but it will take more than a heady preseason drive to convince us Tannehill is a long-term answer in South Beach. The opening act, though, has our attention.
The Dolphins signed Brady Quinnon Monday to add depth to the quarterback position.
*The latest Around The League Podcast answers every question about preseason action that you were too afraid to ask. *
