Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross posed in front of photographers with his new franchise quarterback and jokingly delivered a short reminder about his expectations for Ryan Tannehill.
"Let's hope that someday we can retire this number," Ross said Saturday, as the two clutched Tannehill's brand-new No. 17 Dolphins jersey.
Expectations are high for Tannehill, who on Thursday became the first quarterback taken in the opening round by the Dolphins since Dan Marino. But Tannehill did his best to downplay the notion that he'll immediately solve Miami's decade-long quarterback drought.
"Honored to be one of the newest members of the Miami Dolphins," Tannehill said during his introductory news conference. "Really excited to get down here and start working. ... There's no expectation. I don't think they have real expectations for me. Just want me to come in and compete."
Tannehill conceded he has much to learn about how to play quarterback in the NFL, and that he plans to lean on the veteran signal-callers (Matt Moore and David Garrard) already on Miami's roster.
"Definitely want to learn from those guys as much as I can but compete with them at the same time," Tannehill said.
One thing that should help Tannehill is the fact he's already familiar with the fundamentals of the Dolphins' new offense. Miami's new offensive coordinator, Mike Sherman, was Tannehill's head coach at Texas A&M.
"The foundation of it is all the same," Tannehill said, adding that he spent part of that morning studying his new playbook. "I'm excited to get to the new stuff that they added."
