Miami Dolphins: Skylar Thompson is the MVP of the preseason

The Miami Dolphins have a good problem on their hands, as rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson has himself an excellent preseason.

We knew that there would be plenty of quarterback discussions surrounding the Miami Dolphins this season. We just didn’t know that it would be a 7th round pick that would be adding to the noise.

Skylar Thompson played five seasons at Kansas State, and finished his collegiate career as the second-most accomplished quarterback in school history behind Josh Freeman. His numbers never jumped off of the page, meaning that he was seemingly deservedly passed over during the draft process.

But when Thompson was available towards the tail end of the 7th and final round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Dolphins came knocking, and selected the pass thrower with the 247th overall pick. We all figured that Thompson would get his feet wet, maybe play a couple of halves during the preseason, and eventually be nabbed by another team looking for depth on their practice squad. The Dolphins had just paid Teddy Bridgewater $6.5 million in guaranteed money to be Miami’s backup for the upcoming season.

Not only did Thompson outperform Bridgewater during the preseason, he outperformed pretty much everyone else in the league during the exhibition games.

The rookie quarterback appeared in three contests, completing 36 of his 48 passes, while throwing for 450 total yards, 5 touchdowns, and not a single interception. His passer rating of 138.4 was miles ahead of the guy who came in second place.

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And he certainly passed the eye test. Thompson and fellow rookie Eric Ezukanma played big parts in Miami’s comeback attempt in their preseason game against the Raiders, a performance that turned heads and made people ask where this new guy came from. In the final game against the Eagles, Thompson went 7 for 10 with three touchdowns.

There is no official award for Preseason MVP (and there shouldn’t be), but if there was, Thompson would have been an overwhelming favorite for the honors.

The impressive showings present an issue for the Dolphins’ front office, one that any team would like to have. Miami has a surplus of quarterback talent, and it is going to be difficult to make a decision on where to go from here. Typically, a player like Thompson would be stashed on the practice squad, for potential elevation if the team is in need of depth. But those players are susceptible to having opposing teams pick them up, which is something that the Dolphins will likely look to avoid at all costs.

That would likely mean carrying three quarterbacks on the active roster heading in to the season, which makes one less available roster spot on the final list of 53, making the Dolphins thinner at a position of their choosing.

The conversation about Skylar Thompson beating our Bridgewater for the role of backup quarterback began as something of a joke, for it seemed unfeasible for a 7th round rookie to outplay a veteran quarterback with a hefty price tag for a backup. But things have changed over the course of the last month, and there is a legitimate argument to be made in favor of the youngster.

Keep an eye on the quarterback situation for the Miami Dolphins this year, especially if Tagovailoa shows any signs of faltering.