Is Ryan Tannehill the Next Sam Bradford?

After being left for dead in the public consciousness as a franchise quarterback, Sam Bradford is 5-0 with the Minnesota Vikings. And as the offense is game-planned for his strengths now that Adrian Peterson is out for the season, the team is 5-0 largely because of Bradford. Even as the Texans were able to exploit his weak offensive line on Sunday, Bradford stood in and took shot after shot.

This is legitimately one of the best games I've ever seen a QB play. Constantly under pressure, constantly making difficult plays. pic.twitter.com/GCdgjCdDmA
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) October 10, 2016

Remember the circumstances that created Bradford: two bad supporting casts, two bad coaching staffs, offensive lines that made him look bad. Injuries also played a part. If we were looking into our crystal balls and trying to find the next Bradford, who would it be?

I would argue that it's Ryan Tannehill.

Tannehill has labored behind a bad offensive line for most of his career with the Miami Dolphins. This year, according to Pro Football Focus, he's been under pressure more often than any other quarterback in the NFL. Per Sports Info Solutions, Tannehill also has broken more tackles than any quarterback in the league through Week 4. Miami's O-line last week was so bad that two starters on it, Dallas Thomas and BIlly Turner, were released by the Dolphins on Tuesday.

Tannehill's No. 1 receiver is Jarvis Landry, a good but not great slot threat. Tight end Jordan Cameron has spent two straight seasons looking like he's never played in a real NFL offense. Second-year receiver Devante Parker is incredibly inconsistent on a game-to-game basis, and third wideout Kenny Stills is purely a deep shot receiver. The Dolphins tried to make Mike Wallace his main receiver for years and were startled to find he wasn't that good (Wallace continued to not be that good for Minnesota last year).Miami has broken just 14 tackles this year—11 of them from Tannehill—through four weeks, according to SIS. Tannehill doesn't find easy dump-off yards; he has to create all the offense on his own.

Former head coach Joe Philbin presided over a bullying scandal and at times flat-out forgot to the run ball, especially with Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator. His replacement, Adam Gase, is regarded as a good coaching prospect, but all we've got from him thus far is a 1-4 record and a lot of wild shifts.

We develop narratives for quarterback improvement, and when a team like Miami spends big money, the media and fans expect the quarterback to look better. When he doesn't, it's easy to understand why his reputation in the eyes of the public suffers. But Tannehill's own weaknesses are compounded by the many weaknesses of the team that surrounds him. Observers think Tannehill has a weak deep ball when it's really just inconsistent. They think he takes too many sacks when his line is a disaster—kind of like what they thought of Bradford while he was still with the Rams, whose line still looks rough today. They critique his YPA when nobody on the team can break a tackle.

There's a lesson to learn from Bradford's example. Maybe it's not all about the quarterback, and maybe Tannehill will be lucky enough to find a second team where he can prove it.