Dolphins Should Embrace Quarterback Competition

One of the biggest themes from the Miami Dolphins, since they hired GM Jon Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, is that everybody is talking about competition, and it’s something the team should and needs to do rather than hand the position to an incumbent, or they get someone in a trade or free agency. 

One thing I do like about the hire of Sully is that he comes from the Green Bay Packers organization, which likes to take quarterbacks no matter what year. There is a long history of taking them. Even when they had Brett Favre, they drafted players like Ty Detmer, Matt Hasselbeck, Mark Brunell, and Aaron Brooks.

All those guys developed and helped fill in when Favre got hurt or were used in a trade to maximize their value, and some went on to become starters in the league elsewhere. Then they drafted Aaron Rodgers in 2005 to become Favre’s heir. They also drafted Matt Flynn and traded up to get Jordan Love, who eventually took over for Rodgers, and traded for Malik Willis, who filled in well in relief when Love got hurt. 

The Dolphins haven’t done this for the past 3 decades, and this goes back to the end of Dan Marino‘s career. They never really drafted anyone to be his potential replacement, and even when Marino regressed at the end of his career, didn’t address the position properly. Now, they drafted Scott Mitchell in the middle of Marino’s career, and he filled in well that year, when Marino tore his Achilles tendon and got a huge contract in free agency. They also signed undrafted free agent Damon Huard at the end, but he wasn’t a starting franchise player. 

Over the past 26 years, the Dolphins gave the starting quarterback spot to players like Jay Fiedler, who won a lot of games, but he wasn’t a franchise quarterback and had limitations. They went a good 3 years with Chad Henne and got nowhere. They drafted Ryan Tannehill and Tua Tagovailoa, gave them the starting job, and even gave them a second contract, even though the signs were there that they weren’t worthy of it and didn’t even try to bring in another competent quarterback to back them up or push them. That was a mistake. 

Think about it, when was the last time the Dolphins had a real quarterback competition? 

I would say 2012, when they had David Garrard, Matt Moore, and Tannehill battle it out, but that training camp, Tannehill held out for a contract. Garrard was the better quarterback, but unfortunately got hurt before the preseason opener. Then Tannehill came in and won the job in a short period. 

The other one was in 2008, Bill Parcells’ first year as head of football operations, and they had Josh McCown, John Beck, and Henne battle it out. None of those guys established themselves as the starter, and the Dolphins got lucky when the New York Jets traded for Favre and let go of their quarterback, Chad Pennington. 

The Dolphins signed him and, within the first week, established him as the starter and leader of the team. If Pennington didn’t get released, the Dolphins don’t win 11 games or the AFC East that year, but unfortunately, Pennington got hurt in 2009, and Henne became the starter, and it was a rollercoaster for 3 years. 

The Dolphins had opportunities over the last 26 years to bring in quarterbacks to challenge the incumbents, but didn’t pull the trigger. The biggest mistake was in the 2001 draft, when the Dolphins had the 26th pick, and Drew Brees was there, but head coach Dave Wannstedt was so stubborn that he passed on him, and director of scouting Tom Bratz pounded the table and advocated strongly for Wannstedt to take him, and Wannstedt didn’t listen. 

To me, that was the start of the Dolphins’ slide into mediocrity because Wannstedt took over a talented team on defense, but needed more help on offense to get them over the top, and he failed, or in my opinion, didn’t try hard enough. 

In 2005, Nick Saban had a chance to sign Brees in free agency, but the team wouldn’t pass him on their physical due to a shoulder injury, and he decided to pass and took Daunte Culpepper, who was coming off a major knee injury, and that set the franchise back, and he left. 

Parcells had the number one pick in 2008, and they could have taken Matt Ryan, but they took Jake Long, who was a good left tackle; unfortunately, he had injury problems after his second year. 

Joe Philbin, in 2014, advocated for then GM Jeff Ireland to take Derek Carr, despite having taken Tannehill in the 1st round two years earlier, but Ireland passed. Philbin was clueless as the head coach, but he wasn’t half right about trying to get Carr.

He actually saw that Tannehill had his shortcomings as a starter. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened if the Dolphins drafted Carr and competed with Tannehill. 

There are other examples as well, but the point is the Dolphins have neglected the quarterback position even when they have someone as the starter, and they should have tried to bring in someone over the years when it was obvious they needed to. 

Sully coming from the Green Bay tree gives me some optimism that the team will do this and bring in competition, no matter what. 

I had a conversation with a friend, who is a big-time Dolphins fan like me. When I told him I like that Sully comes from the Green Bay tree and will be willing to take quarterbacks no matter what, he said, “Then we could become the Cleveland Browns.” Well, I told him that could be true, but I think it’s a risk I would like to see the Dolphins take, because what they have been doing over the past 3 decades hasn’t worked.  

Enough with entitling the starter and not bringing in competition, and enough with not wanting to bring in someone to develop and possibly challenge the starter. You can never have enough quarterbacks because the backup quarterback is one play away from playing. 

The bottom line is this team can build the roster up, but if you don’t have a quarterback, you are only going to go so far as a team. The Dolphins organization has turned a blind eye to this for years, and the team embraces bringing in QBs, no matter the situation, to create competition. Competition brings out the most in people, and that’s something this team and its fans should embrace. 

It’s a quarterback-driven league, and the rules nowadays are designed for the QB and passing game.