BY DAN BEGNOCHE
The Miami Dolphins' offense was missing some key elements last season -- a stout rushing attack, a reliable offensive line, a deep receiving corps.
Another noticeable piece absent from sophomore quarterback Ryan Tannehill's unit was the motion, or lack thereof, coming out of the backfield.
The Dolphins ran 32 total offensive plays last year that involved pre-snap motion; that's less than 4 percent of their total plays. Their schematic was brutally predicable at times, evidenced by their 27th overall ranking.
Much of that had to do with the system recently departed offensive coordinator Mike Sherman had in place, a system that's reportedly been turned upside down since the arrival of new coordinator Bill Lazor.
Lazor spent last season as part of Chip Kelly's crew in Philadelphia, and he's now adopting some of the Eagles' offensive characteristics in his new gig. Tempo will be the big change, but motion prior to the snap is another key, a key that has Tannehill excited to get to work.
"It’s been great," he said of the change. "I think just the difference from last year with moving guys around has been huge. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment throughout the OTA’s and mini camp with just being comfortable with lining up and moving, and shifting tight ends, and backs, and everyone.
"It’s going to put guys in matchups that they can win, and win consistently, and we’re going to get people in positions that they don’t want to be in on defense. It’s a lot of fun for us to put them on their heels, and be able to get the ball to our playmakers all over the field."
Check out the rest of Tannehill's comments, including his thoughts on his new coordinator and revamped offensive line, here.
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