What will Dolphins do at backup QB?
The Dolphins find themselves in a similar situation compared to last year – without a viable backup quarterback.
The Miami Dolphins have been playing with fire over the past few years when it comes to their insurance policy of a backup quarterback. The truth is, they’ve never really brought anyone in to even give starting QB Ryan Tannehill a little friendly competition. Since Tannehill entered the league in 2012, Miami has held Matt Moore in the wings. That plan eventually backfired last year when Tannehill suffered a season-ending knee injury in training camp.
Tannehill’s injury motivated the Dolphins to give Jay Cutler $10 million in hopes to save the season, but he too, flopped. Moore is finally out of Miami, and Cutler is in the rear-view mirror, but do the Dolphins finally have the insurance policy they’ve been seeking?
Not exactly.
In fact, you could argue that the backup situation is now worse. Miami brought back David Fales, who looked okay last season in the Dolphins regular season finale against Buffalo. In addition, they signed Brock Osweiler, and claimed Bryce Petty off waivers from the Jets.
Petty is nothing more than a camp body, and will be cut by the time the season starts for sure. By default, the backup battle is really between Fales and Osweiler. The play by all three of these quarterbacks has not been good so far in training camp, and it is worrisome considering that Tannehill hasn’t played since 2016 because of his knee.
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald notes that the Dolphins will monitor the waiver wire for another quarterback, but it’s unlikely that anything will come of it. Considering that I believe Miami will only carry two quarterbacks for the regular season, it’s really going to come down between Fales and Osweiler.
Yikes.
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The harsh reality is that if anything were to happen to Tannehill that would cause him to miss significant time then the season would be over. The Dolphins probably know that too, regardless of what they might say to the contrary. Should Tannehill go down, maybe they’d rather fall flat to solidify themselves a top pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Tanking could help land them their future quarterback, but that’s a dangerous slope for management and head coach Adam Gase to go down. Gase may be safe past this season, regardless of the results, but he would definitely be in hot water should Miami have another sub-par season. Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier may not be so lucky to stick around that long.
The strategy to tank assuming a Tannehill injury may be more welcoming to Dolphins fans, who have grown tired of seeing their team typically miss out on the playoffs, but still drafting outside of the top 10. That strategy may have been better last season before they decided to give Cutler $10 million.
Despite the clear hole behind Tannehill, the organization doesn’t seem phased at all. As of now, Miami will continue to roll out the backup battle between Fales and Osweiler. If I had to guess, I’d say that Fales wins the job as Osweiler has just looked horrific through the first five days of camp. He’s had some “moments”, but that’s not what the quarterback position is about. Regardless of who wins this battle, everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that Tannehill doesn’t get hurt at any point of the season.