Every Miami Dolphins starting QB in team history
The Miami Dolphins entered the football scene in 1966 and since then have had some pretty fantastic quarterbacks under center. The biggest names to ever play the position for the Dolphins are Dan Marino and Bob Griese, but there have been plenty of other talented signal-callers donning the aqua and orange uniforms.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit every Dolphins starting quarterback from each decade since the team's inaugural season.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 1960 to 1969
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Dick Wood (1966) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Rick Norton (1966-1969) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
George Wilson (1966) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
John Stofa (1966-1967, 1969-1970) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Bob Griese (1967-1980) | 32 (151) | 0 (11) |
The first quarterback in Dolphins history was Dick Wood, who started four games for them in their inaugural season. Bob Griese started the most games for the 'Fins in the 1960s with 32 starts under his belt but the 1970s was where he really thrived in the role.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 1970 to 1979
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Bob Griese (1967-1980) | 116 (151) | 11 (11) |
George Mira (1971) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Earl Morrall (1972-1976) | 12 (12) | 2 (2) |
Don Strock (1974-1987) | 15 (20) | 0 (0) |
Bob Griese started the majority of the games at quarterback for the Dolphins in the 1970s with 116 starts to his name. He was the first Dolphins quarterback to start a playoff game and started 11 of them over the decade, including all three in the 1973 season when the team won their second consecutive Super Bowl.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 1980 to 1989
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Bob Griese (1967-1980) | 3 (151) | 0 (11) |
Don Strock (1974-1987) | 5 (20) | 0 (0) |
David Woodley (1980-1983) | 40 (40) | 5 (5) |
Dan Marino (1983-1999) | 101 (240) | 6 (18) |
Kyle Mackey (1987) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
The 1980s might not have resulted in Super Bowl victories but it did result in the beginning of the Dan Marino era. Marino started the most games for Miami in the 80s with 101 regular-season starts and six playoff starts. David Woodley had the second-most starts with 40 regular-season starts and five postseason starts.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 1990 to 1999
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Dan Marino (1983-1999) | 139 (240) | 12 (18) |
Scott Mitchell (1991-1993) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
Steve DeBerg (1993) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Bernie Kosar (1994-1996) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Craig Erickson (1996-1997) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Damon Huard (1998-2000) | 5 (6) | 0 (0) |
Dan Marino started more games in the 1990s than he did in the previous decade, starting 139 regular-season games and 12 playoff games for the Dolphins in his second decade in the role. The quarterback with the second-most starts was a distant second with Scott Mitchell starting seven games. Marino was the only Dolphins quarterback to start a playoff game in the 90s.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 2000 to 2009
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Jay Fiedler (2000-2004) | 59 (59) | 3 (3) |
Damon Huard (1998-2000) | 1 (6) | 0 (0) |
Ray Lucas (2001-2002) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Brian Griese (2003) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
A.J. Feeley (2004) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Sage Rosenfels (2002-2005) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Gus Frerotte (2005) | 15 (15) | 0 (0) |
Daunte Culpepper (2006) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Joey Harrington (2006) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
Cleo Lemon (2006-2007) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Trent Green (2007) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
John Beck (2007) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Chad Pennington (2008-2010) | 19 (20) | 1 (1) |
Chad Henne (2008-2011) | 13 (31) | 0 (0) |
Following Dan Marino's retirement, the Dolphins had to find their next franchise quarterback. It looked like they might be onto something with Jay Fiedler, who started 59 regular season games and three playoff games in five seasons. Fiedler was the only Dolphins quarterback to start over 20 games in the 2000s with the next-closest being Chad Pennington with 19 starts over three seasons.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 2010 to 2019
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Chad Henne (2008-2011) | 18 (31) | 0 (0) |
Tyler Thigpen (2009-2010) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Chad Pennington (2008-2010) | 1 (20) | 0 (1) |
Matt Moore (2011-2017) | 17 (17) | 1 (1) |
Ryan Tannehill (2012-2018) | 88 (88) | 0 (0) |
Jay Cutler (2017) | 14 (14) | 0 (0) |
Brock Osweiler (2018) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2019-2020) | 13 (20) | 0 (0) |
Josh Rosen (2019) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
The Dolphins continued to find their next franchise quarterback in the 2010s, trying to see if Chad Henne or Matt Moore were the answer before eventually drafting Ryan Tannehill in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft .Tannehill started 88 games for Miami but failed to be the guy the team was expecting when they spent a first-round pick on him. Matt Moore was the only quarterback to start a playoff game for the 'Fins in the 2010s.
Dolphins starting quarterbacks from 2020 to Present
Name (Time spent with MIA) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Dolphins) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Dolphins) |
|---|---|---|
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2019-2020) | 7 (20) | 0 (0) |
Tua Tagovailoa (2020-Present) | 51 (51) | 1 (1) |
Jacoby Brissett (2021) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
Teddy Bridgewater (2022) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Skylar Thompson (2022-Present) | 2 (2) | 1 (1) |
The 2020s kicked off with the team spending the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Tua Tagovailoa. Ryan Fitzpatrick started the decade as the starting quarterback though and started seven games with the team in 2020 before handing the keys to the car over to Tagovailoa.
Unfortunately, the fifth overall pick was injury-prone in the first three years of his career, leading to Jacoby Brissett, Teddy Bridgewater, and Skylar Thompson being forced into the starting role for several games. Thompson even had to start a playoff game in the 2022 season due to Tagovailoa and Bridgewater both being injured.
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