Skylar Thompson continues to shine for the Miami Dolphins

Kenny Pickett was the only quarterback taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. With the preseason schedule rolling on, Pickett seems to be living up to the expectations that come with that status, as he delivered a game-winning drive in his first preseason game, and followed that up with a stellar performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars in his second.

Of course, Pickett was not the only quarterback selected last spring. Over 200 picks later, in the seventh round, the Miami Dolphins selected Skylar Thompson, a quarterback out of Kansas State that flew under the radar for most.

Through the same number of preseason games, Thompson has been equally impressive.

The rookie played the entire preseason opener for Miami, leading the Dolphins to a 26-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In that game, Thompson completed 20 of 28 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown.

This weekend, Thompson turned in another great outing, completing 9 of 10 passes against the Las Vegas Raiders for 129 yards and another touchdown.

In the process, he may have solidified his status on the Dolphins roster for the season.

The touchdown came on a well-crafted throwback design, with Thompson carrying out a run fake before looking to attack downfield. He remains patient, giving running back ZaQuandre White time to leak out of the backfield and downfield along the left sideline. Thompson drops in a touch throw, and White does the rest for the score:

While Thompson’s role on this play was more of an actor than a passer, some of his other throws from Saturday night showed his ability in the latter category. Take this completion on a seam route to wide receiver Erik Ezukanma:

Thompson is working between dual seam routes, the one from Ezukanma out of the left slot, and the other from tight end Cethan Carter along the right side of the field. With the Raiders in Cover 3, those seam routes are bracketing the safety in the middle of the field. Thompson holds that safety with his eyes, before layering this throw to Ezukanma, over the linebackers and in front of the safety breaking on the ball.

Ezukanma was also on the other end of Thompson’s best throw of the night, this deep corner route against Cover 2:

This throw comes with a high level of difficulty, as Thompson has to navigate essentially three defenders: The safety playing over the top, the curl/flat defender underneath, and the sideline. With the Dolphins running a Flat-7 Smash concept, with the tight end releasing to the flat, the cornerback will stay low, but once he sees Thompson target the corner route, he’ll break on that throw.

So Thompson has to get it over the cornerback’s head, but drop it down before the safety arrives, and before Ezukanma runs out of bounds. He does that perfectly.

Prior to the draft, here is what I had to say about Thompson:

After the consensus “top six” of this draft class, we are drifting into lottery pick territory. Despite the negatives outlined above, if there is a lottery ticket I’m willing to buy on Day Three, it is Thompson. His pocket movement is among the best in the class, and he has the arm talent to deliver on splash throws, particularly in the vertical passing game. His throw against LSU in the Texas Bowl, on a deep over route dropped into three defenders along the sideline, is arguably one of the best throws any of the quarterbacks in this class made last year. He might be a long-shot, but he is one of the later-round options that does have starter potential.

Through his first two preseason games, Thompson has demonstrated that starter potential.

And with these two games, Thompson might have set up a difficult decision for the Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa is their starting quarterback, without question, and in his preseason debut against the Raiders he hit on 6 of 8 passes for 58 yards.

But with Thompson’s play to date, he has made a push for a roster spot. The Dolphins added Teddy Bridgewater during free agency as well, giving them three quarterbacks on the roster. Would they keep all three, or is there a scenario where Thompson has done enough to earn the backup job?

Miami’s final preseason game is Saturday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. That could be the biggest question the Dolphins look to answer in the final tune-up before the regular season.