Miami Dolphins 53 man predictions: Who is out at quarterback?
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins will hit the field on July 18th when the rookies report to camp and a week later the veterans open camp. Quarterback will be interesting.
There is no question that for the Miami Dolphins, Ryan Tannehill is the starter. His knee injury has been a major debated topic since the end of the season and it will not end until he runs off the field at the end of 2018’s season.
More attention will be given to Tannehill’s knee than anything else he does on the field. If he doesn’t tuck the ball and run, it’s his knee. If he misses a deep throw because he doesn’t step into the throw, it’s his knee. Get ready for it. It’s coming.
Tannehill’s knee should be fine after he had it surgically repaired. The real question is whether or not the year away from football hindered him mentally or disrupted his progress. That will be the key factor in the Dolphins offensive success and Tannehill’s.
With Tannehill returning as the starter the question of who his back-up will be now becomes the focus. Will Adam Gase keep three quarterbacks on his roster or just two? Barring any problems for Tannehill, what will likely be a two man show will come down to three players.
Brock Osweiler – Adam Gase knows Osweiler and he likes what he has to offer. What exactly that is, is anyone’s guess. Osweiler had one really solid season with Denver and hit a huge free agent contract with the Texans only to be traded a year later to the Browns. He returned to the Broncos and signed with the Dolphins as a free agent this year.
Osweiler has a gunslinger mentality but he lacks the accuracy and the ability to be consistent. His contract this year is not significant enough to warrant a guaranteed roster and his knowledge of the Adam Gase system won’t be enough to keep around either. He will have to compete with one of the other two.
Bryce Petty – Most fans are still not sure what the Dolphins were thinking when they claimed Petty off waivers from the Jets. Petty has been largely inconsistent with the Jets and frankly that entire quarterback unit has been horrible for years. Petty was the odd man out when the Jets drafted Sam Darnold in round one of last April’s draft.
Petty doesn’t have much game experience but he has more than David Fales. That really doesn’t say too much as Petty could simply be an insurance policy should something happen to Tannehill. In that situation, the Dolphins would likely have a battle between Petty and Osweiler for the one and two spot.
David Fales – You simply can’t rule out Fales. Adam Gase seems to really like the kid and in his short stint last year on the field Fales didn’t look too bad. The Dolphins see Fales as a future back-up but is that future now? He still has to beat out Petty for what could be the 3rd quarterback spot but more likely he will be looking at another year on the practice squad or at best inactive.
Prediction
The Dolphins, barring any injuries, will carry two quarterbacks on the roster and one of those is Tannehill obviously. While I see Osweiler the likely number two quarterback I am intrigued by David Fales and would not be shocked if by the end of camp, Fales had moved up and into a real cocmpetition with Osweiller.
Petty to me is the odd man out, again barring an injury. He is inconsistent and now learning a new system against two teammates who have a working knowledge of it.
QB 1 – Ryan Tannehill
QB 2 – Brock Osweiler
QB PS – David Fales
Cut – Bryce Petty