Dolphins QB competition

The Miami Dolphins have Ryan Tannehill as their quarterback. At least for the 2016 season. While no one, barring injury, will be competing with Tannehill for the starting job, the back-up position is a different story.

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It would be very shocking if the Dolphins kept four quarterbacks on their roster and in fact, it might be shocking if they kept more than two. Matt Moore will enter training camp as the main back-up and he will likely keep that job because he has experience.

The other two quarterbacks do not.

This is where the position gets interesting. The Dolphins actually like both of their young signal callers and both are accurate but unseasoned. Zac Dysert has one year under his belt which is one more than rookie Brandon Doughty.

Drafted in round 7 of April’s draft, Doughty will compete with Dysert for that 3rd position which may ultimately be nothing more than a practice squad position. Neither factor to be a long term answer but the Dolphins are hoping that one of the two of them will develop quickly enough to eventually replace Moore. And that is really what this is about.

Moore has been playing on one and two year deals since Ryan Tannehill was drafted in 2012. He again opted to stay in Miami rather than test a free agent market that really wasn’t going to show much interest in giving him a shot to be a starter. Moore knows his time in the NFL has entered its twilight years and his days of starting are now left to the misfortune of a starter being injured.

Moore is a solid leader in the locker room and the players like him, perhaps more than Tannehill in some regards. But make no mistake, his future in Miami is down to its last year, maybe two.

Doughty brings a lot to the table but he also the support of someone Dysert does not, Dan Marino. Marino knows this kid since high-school. How quickly Doughty can mature will determine what his future will be with the Dolphins.

For his part, Dysert is a solid prospect but it’s difficult to imagine being anything more than a player on the cusp of making a 53 man roster year to year. Miami’s investment in Doughty is minimal and won’t give him an edge in the competition so this is going to come down to who makes the most out of every single snap they receive.

It’s not a glorious competition but it’s a competition nonetheless.