Dolphins Dropped the Ball on QB Spot

The Miami Dolphins had plenty of options for veteran backups in the offseason but maintained the status quo.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) during the 2022 game against the Miami Dolphins at Levi's Stadium. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

As the Miami Dolphins look to regroup and get their season back on track following consecutive humbling losses, they're looking at three different quarterback possibilities for their next game.

And it's really difficult for anyone to get excited about any of the options.

The three quarterbacks currently on the Dolphins' active roster — with Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve with a concussion for at least three more games — are Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle, and Tyler Huntley. These players have 17 regular-season starts in the NFL and a 69.8 combined passer rating.

That 69.8 passer rating would have finished dead last among qualifying passers in 2022 and 2023, though it would have topped (barely) the 69.7 that Zach Wilson posted as a rookie for the New York Jets in 2021.

Huntley is easily the most accomplished of the three quarterbacks because he's not the only one who brings a running element to the position. His career passer rating is the best among the three. But it's still only 79.0 — Thompson has a 66.1 rating, and Boyle is at a 56.4 rating.

And this is where it's simply flat-out unacceptable for a team talking about the Super Bowl in training camp to find itself in this kind of quarterback quagmire three games into a regular season.

Worse, it didn't have to be this way.

There were plenty of veteran options on the market in the offseason, yet the Dolphins chose to stick with the status quo and bring back Thompson and Mike White to battle it out for the backup job. Thompson emerged as the winner of that competition, and White was released.

Thompson's first start against the Seattle Seahawks, in which he showed dubious pocket presence and a lack of quick processing, was nothing but a gigantic red flag that raised way more questions.

The biggest one of all is: How can a team with Super Bowl aspirations not make sure to have a better fall-back option with a starting quarterback with as extensive an injury history as Tua?

THE OFFSEASON OPTIONS THE DOLPHINS BYPASSED

It has been suggested that the Dolphins couldn't afford a more proven backup quarterback because of financial constraints from their eventual new contracts to Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Jalen Ramsey.

To that, we say hogwash.

After all their offseason moves, the Dolphins still have some $6 million in cap space. We'll point out that Carson Wentz has a $2.2 million cap number with the Kansas City Chiefs, Jimmy Garoppolo has a $3.2 million cap number with the Los Angeles Rams, Mason Rudolph has a $2.75 million cap number with the Tennessee Titans, and Joshua Dobbs has a $2.25 million cap number with the San Francisco 49ers.

Is anybody going to argue that any of those four would have been a better option than either Thompson or Mike White?

Garoppolo obviously sticks out here because of his history and past success in the Kyle Shanahan/Mike McDaniel offense. Even given the fact that he was suspended for the first two games of the 2024 regular season, he would have been a great option. The team could have kept Thompson as the No. 3 quarterback and the No. 2 quarterback for the first two games.

The Dolphins proclaimed all along that Tua would be their quarterback moving forward, so even if his contract wasn't settled until training camp, any veteran coming on board would have understood their place. Being a backup didn't stop Garoppolo and Wentz, to name two, from signing with the Rams and Chiefs, respectively.

And the idea that the Dolphins couldn't bring in an established veteran because maybe it could have affected Tua, particularly in light of his unsettled contract situation at the time, is ridiculous because (again) the Dolphins had made it very clear from the start of the offseason that Tua was their guy.

Wait, there's more. How about Joe Flacco? His cap number with the Indianapolis Colts is $4.5 million. Jameis Winston has a $4 million cap number with the Cleveland Browns.

We're not even getting into players like Gardner Minshew or Tyrod Taylor, who have cap numbers of $15 million and $8.5 million, but Marcus Mariota's cap number with the Washington Commanders is $6 million.

Four quarterbacks also switched teams via trade in the offseason or before the start of the regular season, and the Dolphins could have made a play for any of them: Russell Wilson, Malik Willis, Justin Fields, and Taylor Heinicke.

Based on what we saw Sunday and what we've seen from Willis and Fields this season, wouldn't any of those quarterbacks be an upgrade for the Dolphins?

In explaining what gave him confidence that Thompson could help the Dolphins win some games while Tagovailoa is on IR, McDaniel said this: "So I think his game has developed since he's had a starting opportunity in the National Football League. I think all his teammates can feel his command and his growth, and I think he put together some winning football as a rookie. Rookies have a hard enough time digesting anything, let alone being a quarterback in this offense, so there's a lot of reasons that his teammates have to fully believe in him and his ability which is why he was the No. 2 named from the end of preseason."

This talk about growth is cool, but no concrete reasons are given here.

It seems like the Dolphins believed Thompson would perform based on being here for two-plus seasons now, even with a lack of relevant starting experience.

It was a leap of faith, no doubt when there were so many more proven options.

And this is not stated enough: was that really the way to go for a team talking about the Super Bowl?

Yes, the Dolphins dropped the ball on this one.