When Adam Gase became the offensive coordinator for the Bears before the 2015 season, most of the focus was on what he’d be able to do with quarterback Jay Cutler a year after Cutler found himself benched in favor of Jimmy Clausen.
Cutler’s play was much better under Gase, which helped Gase get the Dolphins head coaching job and a chance to work with another quarterback who has his fair share of detractors. An improved Ryan Tannehill would be a big step in the right direction for Miami’s offense and Gase said it “is to our benefit” that Tannehill is younger than Cutler as they begin working together.
“I feel pretty good about what we can do with him,” Gase said on “The Joe Rose Show” on 560-WQAM, via the Palm Beach Post. “I feel like we can help him. It was going upward from the time he started. I know last year was a hiccup and I know he was disappointed in last year and obviously every Dolphin fan was frustrated with the situation that occurred. We feel really good with the staff we’re putting together, how we’re going to build this thing offensively. I feel like we can help with the sacks, we can eliminate some of these hits he’s taken. That’s going to be key.”
Keeping the pocket cleaner certainly helped Cutler last season and won’t hurt Tannehill after he took 184 sacks during his first four years on the job. It also wouldn’t hurt Gase’s chances of coaching the first Dolphins playoff team since 2008, which would go a long way toward making everyone feel better about Tannehill and the rest of the team.