Dolphins’ Lemon the ultimate dark horse

By Hugo Guzman  |   Tuesday, June 05, 2007  |  Comments( 18 )

Miami Dolphins
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Utter the term "Miami Dolphins" and, inevitably, the subject of quarterbacks comes to the forefront of the conversation. There's the seemingly unending cliffhanger of a story surrounding Trent Green's status, the painfully frustrating and confusing drama regarding Daunte Culpepper's rehabilitating knee and his future prospects with the team, and, on the brighter side, the countless feel-good stories floating around now that second-round pick John Beck has joined the fold.

It seems as if one or more of these themes permeates both the sports landscape in Miami and nationally on an almost daily basis. But lost in the shuffle is one Cleo Lemon.

The team's current backup quarterback signed a one-year deal worth $1.3 million last week, but the agreement created barely more than a ripple in South Florida, and it went virtually unnoticed on a national level. Why is that?

Obviously, the main culprit is Lemon's lack of overall NFL exposure (he has started just one game in his three-year career, and that came in a meaningless Week 17 contest against the Indianapolis Colts last December). The other reason likely has to do with his lack of NFL pedigree. Lemon's not a high draft pick like Beck is, and his status as a career bench-warmer doesn't make him a likely candidate for media fanfare.

However, that doesn't mean Lemon is incapable of rising to meteoric heights.

Keep in mind that some of the league's most prolific passers used to share Lemon's backup status. Marc Bulger was also an undrafted free agent but is now one of the game's most consistently productive signal-callers, throwing for over 4,300 yards in 2006. Tom Brady was a virtual unknown, toiling in obscurity behind Drew Bledsoe, before ascending to the league's upper echelon. And even closer to Miami, Trent Green, the object of head coach Cam Cameron's affection and a two-time Pro Bowler, was also an anonymous undrafted free agent who toiled for several years before rising to prominence under Cameron in Washington.

Who's to say that Lemon is incapable of at least approaching the level of production. After all, it is Cameron who brought Lemon along in San Diego, unsuccessfully fought to keep him a Charger, and has now extended him an invitation to compete for reps as a member of the Dolphins.

Granted, most career backups fail to attain starter status for a good reason: because they're simply not talented enough to take the field on a consistent basis. It's also obvious that unheralded diamonds in the rough like Bulger, Brady and Green are the exception and not the rule. That being said, Lemon was actually fairly impressive when given an opportunity to play.

His lone start of the season against the Colts was mediocre at best, but it was his Week 16 showing against the New York Jets that offers up reasons for optimism. In that game, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Lemon completed 11-of-16 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. He generated 10 points in the final 15 minutes of that contest, coming close to engineering an improbable fourth-quarter comeback. The Dolphins ended up on the losing end of a 13-10 decision, but Lemon's poise and his lofty 107.3 quarterback rating left a lasting impression.

The 27-year-old Lemon is entering just his fourth NFL season, so the label of career backup might be a bit of a misnomer at this point. Now, is he going to be the next big rags-to-riches story? Probably not, but he shouldn't be a media or fan afterthought either.

Get more on Cleo Lemon and the rest of the Miami Dolphins at RealFootball365.com.

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About Hugo Guzman

Trying to bring an objective approach to NFL analysis.
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