Two hundred and forty eight.
This is the single most significant and telling number of the Ryan Tannehill era in Miami. You see, that is the number of sacks taken by Tannehill during his 88 game career in Miami.
That figure works out to be nearly three (2.8) sacks a game. Forget about who is to blame for the sacks, because there’s certainly enough blame to go around. Ryan Tannehill, Jonathan Martin, Jesse Davis, Daniel Thomas…the list goes on and on. It’s not the point.
Here’s the point: Tannehill was sacked 248 times in 88 games over the course of seven seasons. That number is the third highest in team history trailing only Bob Griese (267) and Dan Marino (270).
History lesson: Bob Griese started 161 games in Miami. Dan Marino started 242. And Ryan Tannehill, in nearly one half and one third of the career starts, is within 25 sacks of both of them.
Yikes. Granted, the league has changed quite a bit since Bob Griese stepped under center. Griese only attempted 500 more passes than Ryan did in 7 seasons, so that discrepancy is a little easier to forgive.
But Dan? Dan threw 8,358 passes in the NFL vs. Ryan’s 2,911 as a member of the Dolphins. And where Dan was masterful within the pocket, Ryan devolved into woeful. Dan’s lightning fast release spared him a lot of sacks and lost yardage. Ryan never had the luxury and he never had the line.
Had Ryan not missed the end of 2016, all of 2017 and a handful of games in 2018, he’d be leaving the team as the most sacked quarterback in franchise history. Whomever the Dolphins tab to take the reins will need to be better maneuvering the pocket.
