The Miami Dolphins' 45-21 loss in Week 16 to the Cincinnati Bengals featured plenty of lows, with the defense unraveling in the third quarter and the offense giving the ball away on three different occasions. It was the kind of showing you often see from a team starting a late-round rookie quarterback and having nothing to play for any longer.
However, winning or losing isn't what is most important for Miami right now. It's about figuring out who should be around in 2026 as they move away from the Tua Tagovailoa era and, perhaps, the Mike McDaniel era as well.
On that front, fans got to see Quinn Ewers start his first game at QB, and there were certainly flashes of potential from the former Texas Longhorn. He did have a few errant throws and poor decisions, but he showed one skill that is already clearly an upgrade over what Tua had to offer.
Quinn Ewers brings much more arm talent to the Miami Dolphins QB position
For the first two years of Mike McDaniel's tenure with Miami, Tagovailoa was one of the most productive downfield passers in the NFL. He didn't have the arm to push the ball deep in more traditional ways, but having players like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle allowed him to throw the ball up sooner than usual and still have them separate in time to make the play.
Since then, between the injuries and regression from Hill and defenses catching on to the Dolphins' offense, Tua is no longer a threat to attack defenses deep. His arm has never been even NFL average, and now it could be argued that it rarely looks NFL caliber at all. So much of his game now depends on timing and accuracy, but he has regressed in both of those areas since his stellar 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Ewers, meanwhile, has solid arm talent for an NFL starter. I wouldn't describe his arm as special by any means, but it's a stark difference compared to what Tua has at this point in his career. That allows Mike McDaniel to call more plays that may need the QB to drive the ball into tight areas, something he hasn't been able to do much over the past two seasons.
Having a strong arm isn't enough to make any QB a quality starter, however. What it does do is raise the ceiling of what they can become, and Ewers showed enough positives in his first start to warrant continued reps for the last two games of the season. If nothing else, it's much more interesting to watch Ewers play QB than anything fans have seen from Tua over the last two seasons.