Ryan Tannehill is having his best season under center for the Miami Dolphins, however the team continues to evaluate whether or not he will be their future franchise quarterback.
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport said Thursday on NFL Network's Around The NFL that while Tannehill is playing as well as they've seen him, Dolphins officials would like him to display those flashes of brilliance more consistently.
"(Dolphins officials) are not ready at this point to declare Tannehill is the quarterback of the future," Rapoport said. "They are not ready to say he is their franchise quarterback. The Dolphins sources I've talked to are cautiously optimistic that Tannehill will eventually get there, mainly because of the talent he has and the improvement that he has shown this year."
It's worth noting that general manager Dennis Hickey didn't draft Tannehill.
Tannehill had as good a five-game stretch as any of his career prior to his performance in Week 10. That span came after coach Joe Philbin openly toyed with the idea of starting Matt Moore in Week 4.
The signal-caller faced a bludgeoning Bills defensive line Thursday and performed well, passing for 240 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in a key victory. He was battered last week and completed 71.1 percent of his passes. However, he couldn't hit any plays down the field and finished with just 207 yards on 27 completions.
If Tannehill can continue to play well, it might force Dolphins officials to drop adjectives like "cautiously" and "eventually" when they speak about the quarterback.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast previews every Week 11 game and recaps the Dolphins' key victory over the Bills. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
