Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers, the seventh-round pick from Texas, served as the backup to starter Tua Tagovailoa in Sunday’s 31-6 massacre at Cleveland, supplanting veteran Zach Wilson. That begs one question: How in the heck did the Dolphins miss on the backup quarterback situation yet again?!
This is two years in a row, and three years in a four-year stretch that the Dolphins have major questions at backup quarterback. It’s absolutely ridiculous for the Dolphins to miss so badly at such a crucial position. It’s NFL malpractice.
And let’s be clear on something: this isn’t a rip job on Ewers (5 of 8, 53 yards, 81.8 passer rating vs. Cleveland) or Wilson, the No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft by the New York Jets. Wilson (5 of 8, 32 yards, 70.7 passer rating for the season) was the original backup quarterback, the man who was the “direct, calculated” offseason target by general manager Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel. The players are OK in my book.
This is a rip job on Grier and McDaniel.
They’ve wet the bed once again when it comes to the backup quarterback. It’s yet another reason I think neither should have their current job next year.
Adding more confusion to the situation is this: McDaniel said the change to Ewers as the No. 2 quarterback was game specific. We don’t know who will be the backup quarterback next week when the woeful Dolphins (1-6) visit Atlanta. If Tua (13 of 23, 100 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, 24.1 passer rating) has a bad outing against the Falcons we don’t yet know who gets tapped on the shoulder. If Tua (11 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 82.8 passer rating for the season) has a rough game, it’s unknown right now whether Wilson or Ewers would be the No. 2 quarterback.
What the heck is going on here? Are the Dolphins now picking their backup quarterback on a game-by-game basis?
The Grier-McDaniel duo is showing poor evaluation skills. Again.
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In 2022, the Grier-McDaniel duo thought they had a good backup quarterback in veteran Teddy Bridgewater, and I agreed, but he couldn’t stay healthy. He ended up alternating with Skylar Thompson after Tua got concussed twice. Both Bridgewater and Thompson sustained injuries that year. Neither was effective.
In 2023, the Dolphins had Mike White and Thompson as backups. White was the No. 2 quarterback. But Tua started all 17 games so it wasn’t a big deal.
You’ll recall the 2024 offseason when they had this huge offseason competition for No. 2 quarterback between White and Thompson. And then it turned out neither was equipped to be a No. 2 quarterback. They cut White, and Thompson failed miserably in his Week 3 start at Seattle.
Later in 2024, after Thompson washed out, the Dolphins used a rotation of backup quarterbacks that included Tim Boyle and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, and at one point they signed C.J. Beathard (practice squad only). That, too, was a mess of a backup quarterback situation.
Now, here we are again. Some thought Ewers should have been the No. 2 quarterback coming out of training camp.
The Ewers midweek promotion is yet another indictment on this Grier-McDaniel administration, and yet another reason that this troubled era is in danger of crossing the border from mediocrity to failure.
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Before this rip job of Grier and McDaniel continues, credit Ewers for battling and being named No. 2, at least for the Cleveland game. And credit Wilson for keeping the switch quiet and not dropping hints via social media or during an informal midweek chat (I briefly checked in with Wilson on Thursday on a different topic).
And, I guess, credit the Dolphins for recognizing they needed to make a change instead of allowing stubborn pride to deny what must have been obvious.
We all know backup quarterback is an important position for this franchise. It’s commendable they made that switch. But it’s also unacceptable that they have such indecision.
It was bad enough that the Grier-McDaniel duo, led by McDaniel, complicated the starting quarterback position by giving Tua that ill-advised four-year, $212 million extension in 2024.
Now, the Grier-McDaniel brain trust has apparently decided that they don’t have the next successful first-round reclamation quarterback in the spirit of Indianapolis’ Daniel Jones, Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield or Seattle’s Sam Darnold.
The sad thing is Grier and McDaniel could have helped the team more by using some of that $6 million they gave to Wilson and perhaps given it to a starting cornerback or defensive tackle.
Upheaval and uncertainty have become the norm for the Dolphins at backup quarterback. It’s yet another reason to wonder what the heck is going on with the Dolphins and wonder how much longer the disorder will continue.
