Dolphins hoping serviceable QB emerges

By Joe Mayes  |   Thursday, July 24, 2008  |  Comments( 13 )

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In Clement Moore’s Christmas classic, “the children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.” If you replace “children” with "Miami fans" and “sugarplums” with "a serviceable quarterback," the scene is just about set.

But with just over six weeks to go until Miami's Sept. 7 regular-season kickoff against the AFC East rival New York Jets, the clock is ticking on the Dolphins' leadership to find its starting quarterback. Some have even insisted it is more important for the Dolphins to discover their quarterback for the next five to 10 years than it is to actually, you know, win games. Needless to say, this is an argument that is spurious at best and completely insane at the far end.

There is no doubt, however, that without a quarterback to drive the Dolphins' reconstructed offensive ship, they are almost certain to end up on the rocks again in 2008. Unless there is a significant improvement over last season’s collective completion percentage of 57.6 and a combined 11 touchdowns against 14 interceptions, Josh McCown and John Beck will be less ship’s captain and more boat anchor.

But just how good does the new QB have to be?

For Miami fans, there is but one yardstick against which all future Dolphin quarterbacks will be measured: Dan Marino. Unfortunately, there is virtually no way to fill the shoes of one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of organized football. Just ask the 13 men who’ve tried on No. 13’s shoes since he rode off into the sunset.

The good news is that the Dolphins don’t need the next incarnation of Marino to win. In fact, Marino has the same number of Super Bowl victories as Miami's top three passers -- zero -- so greatness under center does not always equal championships. But there still needs to be substantial improvement at the quarterback position if the Dolphins are to return to the playoffs anytime soon.

Of the 12 playoff teams from 2007, only the Super Bowl champion New York Giants were led by a quarterback with a completion percentage below 60 (Eli Manning hit on just 56.1 percent of his throws). In contrast, McCown completed 58.4 percent last year, while Beck was accurate just over 56 times for every 100 throws. Even rookie Chad Henne, playing against Big Ten (and Division I-AA) competition, completed just 58.3 percent of his 278 passes at Michigan. In the NFL where the name of the (passing) game is getting the ball into the hands of the receivers, whoever emerges from Miami's quarterback scrum will have to improve his accuracy significantly.

The second major area of improvement needed out of the team's quarterback will be turnovers. While the dozen playoff signal-callers from last year (figures for Todd Collins and Jason Campbell were combined to make one set of statistics for Washington's quarterback) averaged .78 interceptions and just over 0.5 fumbles per game, Miami's duo combined to average 1.0 picks (14 in 14 combined games) and 1.3 fumbles (18 in 14 games) per contest. By anyone’s measure -- but certainly given the premium Dolphins leadership places on protecting the ball -- the quarterbacks entering camp were far too generous with the ball against NFL opponents last season.

Of course, the goal of the offense in general and the passing game in particular is to score points. While the 12 playoff quarterbacks averaged 25.5 touchdowns per passer last year, McCown and Beck combined for 11, fewer than half of the scores the guys playing in January and February accrued. That's nearly as much a function of the quality of guys catching as it is the ones throwing, but if the latter isn’t getting it there -- and the completion statistics show that they weren’t -- then the former can’t dance in the end zone.

So while there are plenty of reasons for optimism as the 80-some Dolphin hopefuls arrive in Davie on July 25, the quarterback situation remains the biggest question facing the new team leadership. The team has a new coaching staff, a retooled offensive line, a redesigned defense, and even rejuvenated running backs.

But is there enough talent among the three contenders for the starting signal-caller job to make a playoff-caliber NFL QB?

The answer to that will be revealed over the next six weeks. It remains to be seen if quarterbacks coach David Lee and the estimated 5,000 passes Beck threw this offseason will pay off. It remains to be seen if McCown can finally find a home and deliver consistent performance on the field. And it remains to be seen if Henne can defy the odds and step up on the big stage.

But for Dolphin fans, the eve of training camp is Christmas in July. There’s even a fat man in town, though the red suit has been replaced by gray shorts and a tan. But if the Dolphins don’t come up with at least one serviceable QB for 2008, it’ll be just one more year of coal in the team's stocking and another long offseason of questions in 2009.
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About Joe Mayes

Joe Mayes is an award-winning writer with credits ranging from national sports columns to local newspapers and commercial and technical writing. Joe is the host of "The Morning Wrap," a morning drive-time sports talk radio show on WTKE-FM in Northwest Florida.
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CommentsComments: 13  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
JimmyD		10:20 AM
07/24/2008
I think that physical capabilities and stats aside, the biggest issue the Dolphins had last year with their QB's was lack of...
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No.2
Cunningham12		11:09 AM
07/24/2008
I don't think either of these guys is the long term quarterback, and even if they are the Dolphins have to improve in a lot of...
No.3
12:05 PM
07/24/2008
I guess if all else falls go with the rookie if McCown and Beck arent the answer and then if Henne fails back to the drawing...
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