Who Will End Up Being the Miami Dolphins Starting Quarterback?

When the Miami Dolphins drafted Ryan Tannehill the consensus among draft experts was that they would need to sit him for a year or two in order for him to develop. But, after drafting Tannehill Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland said something a little unexpected when he said Tannehill would be competing for the starting job immediately.

Of course I'm going to include Mrs. Tannehill

Thankfully (in my opinion at least), Tannehill doesn't look likely to start this year. He needs some time to develop, and he is going to get that time while learning behind two experienced and somewhat successful veterans.

The thing is, I think Jeff Ireland had a very good idea how Miami's quarterback battle would turn out when he added David Garrard and drafted Ryan Tannehill. He is saying that there is a QB competition between Garrard, Matt Moore, and Ryan Tannehill, but he already knows who's going to win:

David Garrard.

Think about it. Tannehill needs time and isn't ready to start this year, so he's out. That leaves Moore and Garrard. Miami is running a west coast offense, which automatically gives Garrard an advantage.

Garrard has been able to consistently produce in the NFL. The last time Moore had a great run near the end of the season in 2009 he followed it with a terrible one where he threw 5 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in six games in 2010.

They'll all say that the battle is "very close", but I can assure you that the Dolphin coaches and evaluators have already started to see who the better quarterback is.

Don't interpret this as me disliking Matt Moore, because the opposite is true. I admire what he did last year in helping turn the team around. He was tremendous in helping rally the Dolphins when everyone questioned whether they could even win a game. I just don't think he is good enough to be a consistent starter. He played well for most of the year, but he was never great when he needed to be. Sure, when the game wasn't on the line he played great, but when we needed him to "go in for the kill" and win us the game he couldn't do it.

Add in the fact that Matt Moore isn't a very good practice player, and it only makes sense that Garrard will end up starting when Miami opens up the season in Houston Week 1.


Thanks for stopping by. Let me know what you think will happen with Miami's QB competition.

Feel free to contact me at paul@dolphinshout.com. I'm also on twitter @PaulDSmythe.