Miami Dolphins 2022 quarterback room wasn’t a complete failure
By Brian Miller
The 2022 Miami Dolphins season started out so promising before taking a big nosedive into the abyss as the season wore on.
It’s hard to grade the 2022 Miami Dolphins quarterbacks. In fact, it’s probably one of the few positions that could have asterisks near every single player’s name. Not just an asterisk to signify “what-ifs” but actual real reasons to put it there.
Tua Tagovailoa’s 2022 was a series of up-and-down back-and-forth series of unfortunate events. At one point, he led the league in top statistical categories. He suffered what appeared to be a concussion against the Bills, did suffer a serious one the following week in Cincinnati, recovered to lead the league two weeks later, and had Miami poised to make a run at the division.
Then, Miami headed west and the wheels fell off. Tua looked like a rookie against the 49ers and Chargers, looked like an All-Pro against the Bills, and then suffered another concussion against the Packers that ultimately ended his season.
How do you grade that? He wasn’t perfect when he was healthy and his health was a big concern. A “C” seems too low but even a “B” seems too high. When healthy, he was an “A” for most of the year but the west coast trip dropped him down considerably.
While Tua might be hard to grade, Teddy Bridgewater really isn’t. Bridgewater proved that he isn’t starting material in the NFL, can’t stay healthy (he didn’t finish a single game he started this year), missed games due to his health and looked like he could truly not care less about being on a football field.
Bridgewater was supposed to challenge Tua but it was clear from the start that this was never a competition. Maybe he expected more and didn’t get what he wanted but he sure didn’t do anything to showcase himself to the rest of the NFL. Bridgewater will enter free agency in 2023 and will compete against a lot of other FA quarterbacks for a job next season. Hopefully, it will not include a return to the Miami Dolphins.
Skylar Thompson should in all reality, get a high D or a C for his overall performance but when you factor in the reality that Thompson was a 7th-round draft pick, forced into playing without weekly game prep, suffered his own injury to his hand, and had to lead the Dolphins down the stretch to make the playoffs, you have to applaud his resilience, attitude, and professionalism.
Thompson showed quite a bit last year but he also showed he needs a lot more work and isn’t ready for a full-time backup number 2 role on the team, his future in Miami as a backup is good and in 2024 he may assume that role completely.
2023 will be an interesting off-season. Miami has publicly committed to Tua Tagovailoa but they will need to find a reliable backup to run the offense should there be setbacks with their starting QB.
There will not be an overhaul to the QB room this off-season and there shouldn’t be but Miami’s number two QB has to be found and it has to be someone who can take over a season if need be.
Overall, Tua kept the unit graded as a mid with an up and down season while Thompson turned the needle north with gutsy play despite his lack of experience and Bridgewater turned that needle south with his poor play. In the end, it doesn’t matter. QB play got Miami to the playoffs and they almost stole a game in Buffalo but there was a lot left on the field they couldn’t overcome. In reality, Miami won inspite of their QB issues.