For Miami Dolphins finding the right QB more important than adding one

The Miami Dolphins have limped their way through decades of no Dan Marino and while they have attempted to fill the void, they have failed.

Finding a quarterback is easy but finding the right quarterback is the hard part. Sometimes. Tom Brady, you hit on a quarterback deep in the draft and other times, Johnny Manziel, you simply fall on your face and then your sword. The Miami Dolphins have tried both and failed at both.

Then there is free agency where great quarterbacks are hard to find because great quarterbacks don’t hit free agency. Ever. Never. Ever. They simply don’t. When they do there are questions about their health, durability, and age.

Since free agency began in the late 1980’s in a different form than today, one QB has hit the open market freely who was clearly a franchise quarterback. That was Peyton Manning. No other franchise quarterback has been able to successfully leave one team and ignite another as a franchise quarterback.

Miami Dolphins fans are losing count these days. Is it 17 or 18 starting quarterbacks since Dan Marino? Does it really matter anymore is the real question. Miami has tried free agency with guys like Trent Green and Jay Fiedler. They have missed on one Drew Brees who wasn’t necessarily the player he is today, back then.

In the draft the Dolphins have sucked and frankly have not really tried to fix the position. Pat White, Chad Henne, Ryan Tannehill? Tannehill was the only real franchise type quarterback and there were and still remain a lot of questions about his level of play on an NFL field.

The Dolphins have also tried to trade for quarterbacks. A.J. Feely and Daunte Culpepper fit this bill and both were horrible for the Dolphins. Time and time again whether it is a Jay Cutler or Brock Osweiler, a Ryan Tannehill or a Chad Henne, or a Feely and Culpepper, the Dolphins attempts at finding a quarterback for the ages, falls flat every time. Why?

The reason why is actually easy to answer. They simply throw darts and hope something sticks. They piece together an offense and believe that the QB will do enough to get them through. They over value the play of quarterbacks and overpay because they are not good evaluators of that positions talent. They want a plug-and-play guy and can never find a system quarterback.

This year the Dolphins will have to make a big choice. Draft a quarterback early or wait until 2020. The draft class of 2020 is expected to be one of the best in recent years and while this year players like Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, and Drew Lock are all considered first round talents, none are considered to be 100% franchise changing quarterbacks.

It is easy to fall in love with a quarterback when your team doesn’t have one they can rely on but reaching for a quarterback has its own pitfalls that can hurt a franchise for decades. Ryan Tannehill is the prime example of this.

Going back to the 2012 draft, Ryan Tannehill was expected to be a first round quarterback but his lack of experience at the position at the college level was a concern for many teams. The Dolphins relied on his college coach Mike Sherman who became the Dolphins OC that same year. It was reported that Joe Philbin did not want Tannehill. Whether that is true or not is not important.

Jeff Ireland spent the 8th overall pick on the quarterback in the hopes of turning around the franchise. Instead, seven years later and two injuries removed, the Dolphins are no closer to solving their quarterback situation then they were in 2012. It was a classic case of grabbing a QB for the sake of grabbing a quarterback.

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Drafting a quarterback to develop makes sense but not if you are drafting them in the top 15. You expect to have some growing pains but the level of play needs to be there. The awareness and the tools to be successful need to already be in place so the coaching staff can hone in on those attributes and make them better. That wasn’t the case for Tannehill in 2012 who needed more time to develop.

It is unlikely that the Dolphins move up to draft a quarterback this year but if one is available at 13 the Dolphins have to decide if drafting him is the perfect choice for the Dolphins long-term or is it just a matter of drafting one to say they did. If they don’t “love” the guy then they shouldn’t draft him. If they are not willing to move up to take him then they are not so in love with him as say the Eagles were about Carson Wentz when they made the move to get him. It’s taking the best of what is left. It’s why the Dolphins didn’t jump ahead to draft Josh Rosen in 2018. It’s why they shouldn’t settle in 2019.