Dolphins Make More QB Moves...and Two Elevations

QB Tua Tagovailoa is officially back on the 53-man roster and is no longer questionable for the game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tim Boyle (14) prepares to throw the ball during the third quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. / Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins' Saturday moves included the usual practice squad elevations, but more than anything, they provided a lot of answers at the quarterback position.

In a quick summary, Tua Tagovailoa is officially on the 53-man roster, Skylar Thompson will be his only backup against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and C.J. Beathard has replaced Tim Boyle as the third option.

The Dolphins' moves on Saturday included:

• Activating Tagovailoa to the 53-man roster;
• Releasing Boyle;
• Elevating DT Neil Farrell, Jr. and LS Matt Overton from the practice squad for the game against the Cardinals.

The move with Overton was almost automatic, with Blake Ferguson still due to miss at least the next three games while on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness list. The move with Farrell was also almost a given because of the freakish injury that will sideline defensive tackle Zach Sieler, at least for this game.

THE QUARTERBACK SITUATION

With Tagovailoa moved to the 53-man roster off injured reserve (IR), his designation of questionable on the final injury report was removed, as was expected.

The move with Boyle wasn't surprising; in fact, we mentioned it earlier in the week, along with the possibility of Tyler Huntley being placed on IR. And now both have happened.

This will leave the Dolphins vulnerable against Arizona in the case of really bad luck because they won't have an emergency third quarterback. The Dolphins decided to go with two QBs on the 53-man roster at this time, and NFL rules dictate a player has to be on the active roster to serve as the emergency third quarterback.

From here, it still seems strange that the Dolphins haven't signed Overton to the active roster because he can only be elevated from the practice squad three times. He'll have to be signed to the 53 anyway to be able to play a fourth consecutive game, which would be the Monday night game against the Los Angeles Rams on November 11th.

Having Thompson as the No. 2 quarterback seemed like the logical outcome all along, given that he held that position entering the regular season. Huntley is injured, and Boyle simply didn't get the job done when he got an opportunity to play.

Beathard's arrival only this week puts him way behind Thompson, though we're saying that he might overtake him at some point or, at the very least, join him on the active roster.

Another interesting decision will come when Huntley is eligible to come off IR — after the game against the Las Vegas Raiders on November 17th — but at least the puzzle has been solved for the Arizona game.