No end in sight for Dolphins' directionless Tannehill era

The Miami Dolphins are a rudderless ship, barely afloat each season with no clear idea on getting back to shore.

They needed a missed field goal from Cleveland's Cody Parkey in Week 3 to squeak out a win against maybe the worst team in football, and were embarrassed Thursday by the Cincinnati Bengals.

The 22-7 scoreline doesn't truly reflect the Dolphins' ineptitude, and there doesn't appear to be easy answers to their many questions.

Some of the blame falls on the shoulders of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and rightfully so. Entering his fifth season as starter, he's yet to show the progress you expect from a highly paid franchise quarterback.

His lack of internal clock and poor pocket presence was evident against the Bengals, and his inability to develop into a top-tier passer is one reason the Dolphins continue floundering in mediocrity.

But it's not the main reason.

The Dolphins, despite hiring head coach Adam Gase and general manager Chris Grier, still have no discernible direction and appear to make decisions without any consideration for the long term. Such as:

• Pay Ndamukong Sug $19 million a year without catering their system to his talents
• Drop down in the first round of the 2016 draft, in exchange for underwhelming veterans Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell (who was benched against the Bengals)
• Draft left tackle Laremy Tunsil after he fell in the draft due to a bong hit video - throwing their plan out the window - then play him at guard
• Rescind the transition tag from Olivier Vernon, allowing one of the team's sole young defensive building blocks to leave
• Forget about Lamar Miller to such a degree that he leaves in free agency to become a starter
• Replace Miller with the oft-injured Arian Foster

When you look through the Dolphins' moves over the past few years, it's difficult to see how they all fit together.

Are they trying to win now? Are they building a veteran roster that will give Tannehill time to develop? Are they trying to be a pass-first offense, or a run-first offense?

What these moves have achieved is putting the Dolphins in purgatory. They aren't an experienced roster in win-now mode, and they aren't a young, up-and-coming squad.

They're in the midst of Tannehill's fifth year under center, and have little to show for it.

Receivers Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker are solid, but not world-beaters. The offensive line is in shambles, with Mike Pouncey the only established star. The defense is full of past-their-prime Pro Bowlers and replacement-level players.

This poor long-term vision can be attributed to a lack of clarity over who is truly steering this ship.

While Gase and Grier are in their first years in their roles, the work of Mike Tannenbaum, Miami's executive vice president of football operations, can be seen all over the roster.

Tannenbaum joined the Dolphins in 2014, when Dennis Hickey was GM. The dynamic between the two was never quite clear, with the belief that Tannenbaum took personnel control from Hickey over the course of the tumultuous 2015 season.

When Hickey was fired at the end last season, the Dolphins opted against bringing an outsider in. Instead, they promoted Grier from the scouting department, meaning that, despite Grier's title as GM, it's likely Tannenbaum still runs the show.

So the worst news of all is that nothing in Miami is likely to change any time soon.

Tannenbaum will continue to focus on making headlines in the offseason, creating hope with big-name signings but failing to improve the roster, while Tannehill's contract means he'll be the club's starter in 2017.

So buckle up Dolphins fans. This ship is going to sink at some point, but it may not be for a while.