Chasing the QB an Old — and Ongoing — Problem for the Miami Dolphins
It’s always about the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.
You know, the position the Dolphins haven’t been able to get right this millennium, the position that’s pretty much always a question mark every offseason.
And, let’s be pretty clear, it’s still a question mark this offseason.
Yes, reports have suggested Ross and GM Chris Grier are all in when it comes to keeping Tua Tagovailoa as the starter to see if he can develop, but the Dolphins also are running the risk of finding themselves in the same predicament they experienced with Ryan Tannehill.
ARE THE DOLPHINS ABOUT TO REPEAT THE TANNEHILL MISTAKE?
Based on the two finalists for their head-coaching position being Kellen Moore and Mike McDaniel, with the reported mandate of working with Tua and keeping most of the defensive coaches intact, this is a repeat of 2016 when the Dolphins hired Adam Gase with the idea his offensive mind could take Tannehill to another level.
But Tannehill never really reached another level, remaining a serviceable quarterback until he was shipped to Tennessee and started winning a lot of games with a team that asked him to do little more than some play-action passes against defenses gearing up to stop Derrick Henry.
When the Titans really have needed Tannehill to step up in the playoffs, though, he hasn’t been able to do that and the latest example came in Tennessee’s last-second loss against the Cincinnati Bengals in its first playoff game this year after securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
We’ve reached the point in Tennessee where there’s been debate as to whether the Titans need to move on from Tannehill, though his contract situation makes that unlikely to happen — at least in 2022.
THE BENGALS AND JOE BURROW
And, of course, that brings us back to the Bengals, who are headed to the Super Bowl two seasons after having the worst record in the entire NFL.
And it brings us again to the Dolphins’ futile chase for a franchise quarterback since Dan Marino retired.
Joe Burrow will be taking those Bengals to the Super Bowl in his second season after an incredible playoff run where he showed the kind of moxie that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft — the kind of moxie we haven’t seen from a young quarterback since Tom Brady.
The Dolphins absolutely would have taken Burrow at number 1 had they gotten that first overall pick, which seemed almost a certainty after they dismantled their roster in the 2019 offseason to accumulate draft picks and create salary-cap space.
As the 2019 college football season began, Tua Tagovailoa was that guy, hence the tag “Tank for Tua” that became all the rage.
But then Tua sustained that severe hip injury and Burrow put together arguably the best college football season ever for a quarterback, and Burrow became the clear No. 1 pick in the draft.
That hunger for that elusive franchise quarterback is what prompted Ross to call the Bengals to see what it would take to trade for that No. 1 pick, but the Bengals wisely didn’t even entertain any offers.
THE TUA-HERBERT DECISION AND THE YOUNG STAR QBs
And we don’t really need to revisit the decision to select Tua over Justin Herbert at number 5, other than to point out again that not everybody — though former Dolphins Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum called it right — was sold on Herbert as a high-end prospect in part because of consistency concerns and a too-laid-back personality.
In his first two years, though, Herbert has been borderline spectacular and he would have joined Burrow in the playoffs this season had the Chargers defense been able to do better than 30th in points allowed or even simply not Josh Jacobs to gain 17 yards on two rushes at the end of the regular season when everybody in the stadium knew the Raiders were going to run.
Along with Tannehill, the last quarterbacks standing in the AFC playoffs this year were Burrow, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
Given their age, they figure to create problems in the AFC over the next decade or so, and we can add Herbert to that list.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, are left to hope that Tagovailoa can get to that level.
When Tom Brady announced his retirement this week, Pro Football Focus marked the occasion with a graphic celebration the new generation of hotshot quarterbacks.
Notice who’s not on there?
For the record, it’s Tua.
The other two who ARE on there besides the four aforementioned AFC QBs are Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray.
There could be some big-time quarterbacks on the move in the offseason, the most prominent obviously being Aaron Rodgers. Russell Wilson also could wind up with another team and the 49ers very well could be looking to trade Jimmy Garoppolo to make way for Trey Lance.
And, of course, there’s still Deshaun Watson lurking as a possibility if his legal situation gets resolves and there’s clarity about his playing status moving forward.
And, yes, the Dolphins absolutely, positively should explore every and all avenues to land a franchise quarterback, though we’d leave Garoppolo out of that mix because he’s an awful lot like Tannehill and doesn’t represent much of an upgrade over Tua.
THE PAINFUL DOLPHINS QB HISTORY OF THE 2000s
But the Dolphins simply can’t afford to pass up the opportunity to land a franchise quarterback.
Do you how long it’s been since the Dolphins had a quarterback selected to the Pro Bowl — even as an alternate?
The answer is the 1995 season when Marino was selected for the 10th and final time.
That’s a 27-year drought without a Pro Bowl quarterback and it’s by far the longest in the NFL. Second-longest: 20 years for the San Francisco (Jeff Garcia, 2002 season).
And since there is zero argument — zip, zilch, nada — that quarterback is the most important on any team, this is bad. And it might help explain why the Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since the 2000 season.
Understand, the Dolphins have had plenty of chances to land that elite quarterbacks since Marino left, but that special guy always has found a way to slip away.
The Dolphins had the chance in the 2001 draft, but decided it would be a better idea to select cornerback Jamar Fletcher, never mind the fact the Dolphins already had Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain on the roster and they were a man-to-man team drafting a guy who starred in college playing mostly zone.
The Dolphins ended up with the second overall pick in the 2005 draft, but decided to go with running back Ronnie Brown instead of the QB who some thought was a possibility to go first overall — yes, Aaron Rodgers.
They had the chance again in 2006 when Brees became a free agent, but Nick Saban instead traded to Daunte Culpepper because of an unfavorable medical report on Brees.
They had the chance again in 2008 when they had the first overall pick but bypassed Matt Ryan in favor of tackle Jake Long, who in fairness might have ended up in the Hall of Fame if not for injuries that cut short his career.
After the stopgap stint of Chad Pennington, the Dolphins picked Tannehill eight overall in the 2012 draft, which felt like a reach at the time and certainly played out that way.
A report from longtime Miami Herald reporter Armando Salguero, now with Outkick.com, suggest then-coach Joe Philbin advocating for drafting Derek Carr in 2014 but he was overruled and Tannehill remained the uncontested starter.
And now here we are, in 2022, with the Dolphins again facing an offseason with a major question mark at quarterback because, like it or not, there jury is still out Tua and the Dolphins sure don’t appear at this way to be any closer to having a Pro Bowl player at the position.
So the chase for the quarterback continues.
