The Good and the Ugly from Quinn Ewers’ First NFL Start

The Good and the Ugly from Quinn Ewers‘ First NFL Start

The Good: Historically Strong First Start From a Yardage Standpoint

Statistically, the seventh-round pick enjoyed one of the best first starts of any Miami Dolphin ever from a raw passing yardage standpoint. When the clock ticked to zero, Quinn Ewers had a whopping 260 passing yards to his name, and it took him just 20 completions to get there, meaning he averaged 13.0 yards per completion.

In the modern era of the league (post-1970 NFL-AFL merger), the only player to rack up more yardage in his maiden start with the Dolphins was none other than Dan Marino. Marino started his first game as a pro against the Buffalo Bills all the way back in October of 1983. He amassed 322 yards, yet Miami still fell in overtime.

That’s quite the company for Ewers to be in. In his first taste as a starter, he looked like someone who shouldn’t have fallen as far as he did in the draft. Some folks were arguing not long ago that he was a first-round talent, and his talent level was on full display in Sunday’s loss.

The Ugly: Turnover Troubles

Considering Miami’s starting quarterback for most of this season, Tua Tagovailoa, is leading the NFL in interceptions with 15, fans of the team are surely sick of seeing the Dolphins turn the ball over in the air. However, the rook unfortunately had a Tua-like performance in terms of the number of interceptions he racked up in his debut and the circumstances under which he threw them.

He threw both of his picks in the second half, and they proved to be costly, with the Bengals parlaying both mistakes into touchdowns. Ewers’ interceptions ultimately helped Cincinnati put the game out of reach for Miami, which picked up its second consecutive loss and dropped to 6-9.

The former University of Texas at Austin standout will aim to do a better job taking care of the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 28.