The signing of Mike Wallace was supposed to be the ticket to Ryan Tannehill's deep-ball salvation.
Wallace arguably is the game's best pure deep threat, and the Miami Dolphins gave the wide receiver gobs of money to take the top off defenses and pull in Tannehill heaves.
That hasn't happened yet. The development of Tannehill as a downfield thrower continues to move at a surprisingly slow pace. According to Pro Football Focus, Tannehill has completed just seven passes targeted 20 or more yards down the field through five games. That puts him in the middle of the pack among his contemporaries.
Only 8.8 percent of Tannehill's pass attempts have traveled further than 20 yards, which ranks him 23 out of 28 starters.
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"I feel like I have plenty of arm to get it there," Tannehill said Wednesday, via ESPN.com. "It's just trusting him and throwing it out there. ... When you're throwing the ball that far downfield there's going to be a small margin of error, where one or two yards make a big difference."
Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman says Tannehill's issues are about "rhythm and timing," not anything physical. We agree, and have seen more than enough evidence that Tannehill has the physical ability to develop into a great deep-ball passer.
It's a patience game for now.
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