As Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill continues his development, the team has him working on developing one specific type of throw that, when done properly, is even harder to defend than Mr. Miyagi’s crane kick.
Tannehill is working to master the back-shoulder fade throw.
“It takes commitment just like anything else,” coach Joe Philbin told reporters on Sunday regarding Tannehill’s new project. “If you’re going to be good at something then you have to practice it and you have to devote time to it and repetitions to it and you have to feel like you have the right chemistry with the right receivers.”
Don’t expect to see it on a regular basis, even if Tannehill masters it.
“I think it’s obviously team-specific and sometimes it’s game plan specific,” Philbin said, “maybe it’s better against a certain corner, it’s obviously better against certain coverages and all that stuff, but I think all teams make their decisions based on that, ‘Do we have the guys that throw it well? Do we time it well and catch it well? Does it make sense against what they’re doing?’ amongst some other things.”
Philbin knows a thing or two about a quarterback who knows how to make that throw. Before becoming the head coach in Miami, Philbin served as offensive coordinator for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
So why does it work for Rodgers?
“I think because of a lot of the things I just talked about, the commitment to it, the time, the repetitions, other things and certainly good chemistry,” Philbin said.
With the Dolphins having a solid group of receivers, now could be the time for Tannehill to unleash from time to time a throw that few NFL-caliber corners can find a way to cover while at the same time avoiding the possibility of the receiver getting behind him.