2012 NFL Draft: Dolphins Owner Reportedly Wants to Take Ryan Tannehill

With less than four full days until the start of the 2012 NFL Draft, we're starting to get a sense of the direction the teams near the top of the draft are leaning.

There's no mystery surrounding who the top two picks will be, as Indianapolis and Washington will select Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, respectively, to become their new franchise quarterbacks.

Much debate has surrounded the next best quarterback in the draft, 23-year-old Ryan Tannehill out of Texas A&M, and whether or not he too can evolve into a franchise player.  

He's been linked to multiple teams, including the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and, most frequently, the Miami Dolphins.

The connection makes sense on multiple grounds, not the least of which includes the Dolphins' need for a quarterback and their new offensive coordinator, Mike Sherman, coached Tannehill at Texas A&M.  

Some have speculated that despite all of that, the Dolphins would still pass on the quarterback at pick eight to address another need (they have plenty).  Many also believe that a team (perhaps one of those mentioned above) will leapfrog Miami in the draft order to select Tannehill.  

Time will tell how long Tannehill lasts, but according to a Sunday night report, if Miami Dolphins' Owner Stephen Ross has it his way, the former Aggie will become the newest member of his franchise.  The report comes from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, and he describes the root of Ross' push for Tannehill:

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"Ross desperately wants to turn the page on yet another embarrassing offseason, which has seen the Dolphins fail to hire Jeff Fisher as coach and Peyton Manning as quarterback.  They also whiffed on new coach Joe Philbin’s pupil with the Packers, Matt Flynn, even though it’s unclear whether the Dolphins decided they didn’t want Flynn or Flynn decided he didn’t want the Dolphins, or a little bit of both." 

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Each NFL owner has a differing involvement in the football operations process, but given the offseason woes highlighted above, it would be sensible to believe Ross will have a say in what Miami ultimately decides to do come draft day.

Whether that means a hard push to move up to pick three (one slot ahead of Cleveland) in order to ensure the chance to draft Tannehill, or hedging their bets and staying put at pick eight with the hope that he falls, it seems as though the interest that many have believed Miami to have in Tannehill is legit. 

Ross didn't get what he wanted when the team struck out on Manning, he seems determined not to make the same mistake twice.

**Update: Here is a report from the Miami Herald disputing the Pro Football Talk report.  Hmm... Stay tuned.