McDaniel Explains Starting QB Decision

Tyler "Snoop" Huntley will start for the Miami Dolphins against the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Tyler Huntley (10) runs the ball as he looks for an available receiver against the Green Bay Packers during the second quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium this preseason. / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will have a third different starting quarterback in three weeks when they face the Tennessee Titans on Monday night, and veteran Tyler "Snoop" Huntley will get the call.

Head coach Mike McDaniel made the announcement Saturday morning before the final practice in preparation for the Monday night game, saying it became clear in the practice week that Skylar Thompson's rib injury wouldn't be sufficiently healed to get the call for a second consecutive game.

This will mark the third time in the past three seasons that the Dolphins have started a different quarterback for three consecutive games — it happened twice in 2022, with Tua Tagovailoa, Teddy Bridgewater, and Skylar Thompson getting the starts against Cincinnati, the New York Jets, and Minnesota early in the season and against Green Bay, New England, and the Jets in the final three games of the regular season.

Additionally, Tim Boyle will serve as the backup, as he did last Sunday in the 24-3 loss against the Seattle Seahawks. Thompson, who was injured in the third quarter of that game, will likely serve as the emergency third quarterback.

"It was probably a handful hours after I met with you guys last [on Thursday] we started making moves towards Snoop starting," McDaniel said. "You're waiting to see if Skylar is a part of the equation, and what you're trying to assess based upon his ability to do football and starting on Wednesday, NFL Wednesday, and just how his body was responding, it became clear that he would be in consideration for possibly emergency third.

"Why the decision for Snoop? Everybody has their their values. I think one thing that was supremely obvious to the team since he got here, and then even more so this practice week is Snoop has started multiple and many big games and when as a quarterback, just understanding exactly what is required to win over teammates, to take the place of somebody else and be able to assert their their own personality, their own skill set, their own traits within the offense and lead people, we've been very high on Snoop, high enough to give him a roster spot on the 53; those are very few and far between the sight unseen so that his maturation has has been expedited by him, and he's done an impressive job of assimilating into the locker room and understanding our language as his own, and the team's excited for him."

Along with his experience — he started games in three different seasons for the Baltimore Ravens — Huntley adds a running element to the offense.

McDaniel said that wasn't necessarily a determining factor in his decision.

"I think the ability to make plays, that's a broad overarching statement," McDaniel said. "You can do it in a multitude of ways. What I'm expecting is him to be comfortable making plays in various ways. But I think that's the biggest thing is I see him being able to utilize his skill sets within the framework of the offense and understanding that it's about the collection of individuals doing their job, and what's the best for this week to do that? I know everybody knows that he can run. I think everybody knows that he can pass. He does a good job of both. And so I'm expecting him to go out and be 1/11th of the formula to try to go and make plays, get first downs, score some points, all of that."

McDaniel had said earlier this week there was an issue of pain tolerance with Thompson's rib injury as well as not putting himself in harm's way.

"I think as Skylar progresses, I think that leaves variables more vague," McDaniel said Tuesday. "Important 48 hours to kind of see where he's at and also to get in front of the rest of the quarterback room and talk with them, talk with coaches, talk with some of the players to get them as most comfortable with the varied uncertainty. And we'll just have to take it a day at a time."

DOLPHINS DON'T HAVE A LOT OF STARTING EXPERIENCE AT QUARTERBACK

Huntley has the most starting experience of the three Dolphins quarterbacks currently on the 53-man roster — after all, Tua Tagovailoa is on injured reserve. Still, that experience consists of only nine starts as a backup with the Baltimore Ravens.

He joined the Dolphins last week when he was signed off the Ravens practice squad, but McDaniel said Boyle got the nod as the second quarterback Sunday because Huntley hadn't been around long enough.

"That was something that we utilized the week to kind of assess," McDaniel said. "You want to be fair to all parties. You don't want to rush to judgment and assume that people will assimilate. Fully knowing that it was going to be difficult this past week for a guy getting there on Tuesday to feel comfortable leading the offense but also a veteran guy, so you just let it play out. At the end of the day we just thought that the quarterback affects a lot of players every on down in down out and that Tim was the the better option for that moment on that day."

McDaniel said Thursday he was happy about Huntley's progress in getting acclimated with the playbook.

"I'm feeling much more knowledgeable about exactly where he's at over the course of the last half week and very encouraged," McDaniel said. "Chris and his staff in conjunction with the coaching staff, we targeted him for a reason. And it's a player that we're very familiar with from the opponent standpoint. And then we have a couple coaches that have been on staff with him on the same team with our defense coordinator."

Indeed, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is familiar with Huntley's abilities, and his resume is more impressive than that of Thompson or Boyle.

And now he's gotten the call to start at quarterback for the Dolphins.