Don't get me wrong. I would love to get Matt Flynn, but Manning is a better option to me. He is one of the smartest quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL. Want proof? Just look at his old game film. He doesn't wear a wristband with plays on it. As my friend John McAdams pointed out to me "Peyton is his own general and knows better what to call from that position than anyone else; even Tom [Brady] has that huge thing on his arm and often uses it." Manning would be perfect for Miami. The Dolphins have a lot of talent on offense, and he would be able to maximize that talent.
I will stop there, though; the point of this post is not to tell you all about what makes Peyton Manning so great. You already know that. I am writing this post to write out a simple plan that will allow the Dolphins to sign Manning for a few years and still be set for years to come.
My proposal is this: after signing Manning, trade down from the 8th/9th spot in the draft and take Ryan Tannehill with a late first or an early second round pick. That way Miami will get the full benefit of Peyton Manning for roughly three years and then Tannehill will step in once he retires. In the long run, I think this plan would work out even better than if the Dolphins signed Matt Flynn. In this proposal, Miami would have one of the best quarterbacks ever leading their offense for a few seasons, and then once he retires Tannehill, who would have studied under Manning during that time, would be able to step in and be wildly successful. It would be something similar to the Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers transition that the Packers made, but I would argue even better because Tannehill will have studied under the more cerebral (than Favre) Manning.
I have done some film study on Ryan Tannehill, and I have to say that I am very impressed. I do not have any statistics on him because I don't like to college at stats when it comes to scouting college football QBs, but I can say that I like what I see a lot. Tannehill is a very composed passer. He can stand in the pocket with an astounding calmness. It's amazing to me. He doesn't even flinch when a defender comes near him. He is always looking downfield.
Tannehill's biggest knock against him is his inexperience. He was a receiver in college until halfway through his junior season when he switched to quarterback. So basically, he has had a year and a half of quarterback experience. Well you know what? That is incredible. For him to be as good as he is after just a year and a half of being a quarterback in college, then I can't wait to see what he would be like after learning from Peyton Manning for a few years.
While I know that a lot of you are pretty set on wanting Matt Flynn (or even Matt Moore) as the Dolphins quarterback next year, I encourage you to give my proposal at least a little consideration. I feel like it could end up turning out really well for Miami if Manning is, in fact, healthy enough to keep playing.
Thanks everyone for stopping by, I hope you liked my post today, and, as always, I encourage you to leave your feedback below.
Also, I will call my proposal "Mannehill", which I think Kenny would like.
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