Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tanehill hasn't been awful by any stretch of the imagination this year, but he also hasn't been the same type of top-ten fantasy football QB owners got last year. While he likely didn't cost you an early round draft pick, you were probably hoping for a little bit more from him. Alas, the Dolphins got off to a rough 1-3 start and fired head coach Joe Philbin. So much for that break out playoff campaign some were expecting.
Despite Miami's struggles as a team, Tannehill is still a solid play in fantasy this week.
"Only Tom Brady has a longer active streak of games with multiple passing touchdowns than Tannehill," ESPN Senior Fantasy Analyst Matthew Berry wrote in his weekly Love/Hate column. "Dude has thrown two touchdown passes in four straight games and now faces a Texans team that is tied for the fourth-most touchdown passes allowed. Having finally freed Lamar Miller, the offense is now less one-dimensional and should be able to sustain longer drives, leading to more scoring. Tannehill is inside my top 10 this week."
As Berry mentioned, Miami's increased usage of Miller should help the offense as a whole. It's no coincidence that Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans -- in which Miller set season highs in carries (19) and rushing yards (113) - also saw the Dolphins score a season-high 38 points. The emergence of the run game makes Tannehill's job easier.
But while Houston has been beat for quite a few touchdowns through the air, they've actually played decently against the pass for the season. The Texans rank third in opposing completion percentage (57.7), ninth in yards per attempt (7.0), 12th in passer rating (88.1) and 13th in yards per game (240).
Anyone starting Tannehill this week should hope that the multi-touchdown streak continues - very possible - because the yardage may not be there.
