JGalligan
Footballguy
Out of all of the sub-plots and blown-out-of-proportion drama acts we so rabidly devour immediately upon the preseasons arrival, quarterback controversies easily reign supreme. Or at least they do in regards to slowly reintroducing our psyche to that warmly familiar rush of excitement we all know and love as the regular season. But once preseason hits and you’re wading through everything that comes along with the time of season, you just know it’s game on again when you get the crazy research eyes and can practically feel your football addiction creeping back into action once more. I’m getting unnerved and excited all at once just writing about it.
In regards to this year, it may be due to my horribly laughable memory but it definitely seems like there aren’t nearly as many legitimate starting quarterback battle opportunities out there this year, doesn’t it? Obviously things can turn on a dime due to injuries or arrests or getting caught with a Whizzinator and the like. But as we sit right here and now, I can only count about five total team situations where the starting QB job isn’t being securely held onto by a legitimate talent.
Despite it likely being the Dolphins’ strategy to throw Ryan Tannehill into the tempering rookie QB fire headfirst this year, I think I speak for all of us when I say that I hope this isn’t the case — at least initially — what with the team being featured on this season of Hard Knocks and all. You know, so we can be treated to an infinitely more intriguing, up-close-and-personal look into what could possibly be a three horse race down the stretch.
Speaking of the Dolphins being featured on Hard Knocks this season though, what better way to kick things off for the Arms Race feature than with this particular battle?
Miami Dolphins Projected QB Battle:
<Kindly imagine the Miami Dolphins logo using your imagination here. Or if you don't have one, click here to read the article in its entirety over at GridironGrotto.com>
Matt Moore vs. David Garrard vs. Ryan Tannehill
When it comes to Matt Moore, I always find myself wondering what exactly he brings to the table. What is it specifically about him that makes him appear appealing enough for front offices to consider handing him the reigns and essentially asking him to command and lead an entire professional football team. I can’t figure it out. Maybe he’s just a really great and charismatic interview or something.Prior to these last two seasons, many people were fond of suggesting that he just knew how to win. But an eight game sample size (6-2 record as a starter for those eight games in case you’re wondering) as a quarterback for two years wasn’t really doing it for me very much.And my gut feelings were justified when he subsequently went 1-4 in his final year in Carolina in 2010 and then broke even at 6-6 in spectacularly mediocre fashion last year in Miami. I’m sorry, but a 13-12 career starting quarterback record just isn’t going to cut it. So, again, what exactly is he bringing to the table? Because he’s apparently bringing something as he’s practically the unanimous favorite to win the starting gig for the upcoming season.
When it doubt… well, it’s time to cue up the stats methinks. Much props and thanks to the incomparable Pro Football Reference:
Clearly, Moore’s best season came in 2009 but this was also a year in which he played in just seven games while only starting five of them. The only decently sample sized year he’s played in throughout his whole career was last year in Miami. A year that, while it wasn’t the worst season anyone’s ever had (how’s that for a ringing endorsement), certainly wasn’t impressive enough to lend credence to him being a decent choice to start this upcoming season. No matter how “temporary” a gig it may be.
Worst-case scenario? Sure. I guess I could get on board with that. But the Dolphins had an ample amount of time to procure a better option to battle David Garrard to potentially steer the ship until the seat was warm and ready for Ryan Tannehill. If anything, I would have expected them to dump Moore and keep Chad Henne as it appeared that things were finally beginning to click for him in regards to being serviceable under center until he got injured. Then again, it’s all about the Benjamin’s, baby. And this is especially so for a franchise like Miami where I imagine it’s more like living paycheck to paycheck but in a running-an-NFL-franchise sense.
While David Garrard certainly isn’t a world-beater any longer — if he ever was one at all — he at least has the potential to not steer the franchise wagon off the side of a cliff before it can be given over to Tannehill. I guess I’m just full of these confidence inspiring testimonials today it seems…
One of the counter arguments to knocks on Garrard’s talent and ability to be a big-time NFL quarterback is that he’s never really had much in the way of actual weapons surrounding him. In terms of receivers at least. Not once in his 4-5 years as the main guy in Jacksonville did a wide receiver ever eclipse the 1,000 yard mark. Not once. The closest were Mike Sims-Walker with 869 yards on 63 receptions in 2009 and Mike Thomas with 820 and 66 in 2010. If you look a bit closer at the receiver statistics from his time there though, this may not be a knock on him as much as it’s a testament to Garrard’s ability to spread the ball around to absolutely frigging everyone.
Considering he’s been in the NFL for what feels like it’s been 27 years now, Garrard certainly doesn’t have the whole youth and wellness thing on his side any longer. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let’s go ahead and take a closer look at his stats since 2006. Again, thanks to the straight consummate Pro Football Reference:
Note: Asterisk denotes a Pro Bowl year.
What stands out initially is that Garrard is clearly a more accurate passer — not that this comes at the expense of having a shorter-range passing game than Moore, though, as his yards per passing attempt is still a touch higher. Although his interceptions have taken an upturn in recent years, Garrard is otherwise much more consistent in regards to what you can expect of him. Not included in the listed statistics above are the respective career records of the two as starting quarterbacks: Garrard sitting just above .500 at 39-37 and Moore also sitting just above .500 but a bit less so at 13-12.
Although Garrard hasn’t reached receiving his AARP card status just yet, he does have substantially more mileage on his body than Moore does, in addition to literally missing all of last season due to surgery and the subsequent recovery he needed on a herniated disk in his back. Obviously not a career-ender by any means, but you have to wonder if it has perhaps shortened the time he has left on his odometer a bit — especially considering any kind of surgery in general at age 34 is pretty serious business.
All of this isn’t to say that David Garrard is going to do much of anything should he theoretically win the temporary starting nod. He’s already shown that, while quite accurate and a decent game manager, he’s not of the caliber where he can whip up something exceptionally delicious with sub-par ingredients. He’ll just cook you up something that’s pretty good if you put a bit of salt and pepper on it and eat it all while slightly intoxicated instead.
All in all, the skill position supporting cast on the Dolphin offense is literally nothing to write home about. Save perhaps for the daydream potential of a one-two punch combo Daniel Thomas and Reggie Bush if they didn’t have to contend with eight or more players stacked in the box blitzing the shiz out of them on every play. I’m sure it’s also a pretty clear indicator that you’re having some significant offensive issues when Davone Bess and Brian Hartline — aka career WR3 guys, and that’s being generous — are your top two receivers on the depth chart.
Maybe it’s not all bad, though. You have to figure that you’re going to have to toss Ryan Tannehill into the deep waters at some point regardless. Or they will if they did indeed draft him to be the future quarterback for the franchise at least. While some people believe that young quarterbacks benefit greatly from learning the intricacies of the offense on the bench, you have to realize that these people are referring to quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady who did so while tutoring under equally-great field generals such as Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe. Not Matt Moore and David Garrard. And calm down, I’ll give you that Drew Bledsoe probably shouldn’t be considered/called “great” per se, so let’s just roll with above average for him for now and call it a day.
Unless the Dolphins don’t have faith in their offensive line to keep Tannehill from getting pounded into the painkiller cabinet week after week, why would they want to prolong the process any longer than it has to be? Just toss the kid from the nest and see if he flies away like a big boy with the franchise gripping tightly to his back. It’s either going to work or it’s not.
In the interests of making an actual prediction, I’m going on record saying that David Garrard will win the Week 1 starting job before eventually handing the reigns over to Ryan Tannehill just before the team’s Week 7 bye week. Or right after it. There, I bolded it all for you so you can more easily take it to the bank.
Actually, nevermind — that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. I bolded it so it would stand out and all that good stuff.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of “A Look Into the 2012 NFL Pre-Season Quarterback Arms Race” where we’ll delve into the whole New York Jets/Mark Sanchez/Tim Tebow love triangle. Trust me when I say that you definitely won’t want to miss it. It’s going to be good times!
TL;DR - Upon further review, Matt Moore has no business under center for the Dolphins until Ryan Tannehill is good to go. Not that David Garrard is much better, but you at least know what you're getting with him. Formal prediction that Garrard will win the temporary starting gig before handing it off to the boy wonder either just before or just after the team's Week 7 bye week. Fin.
In regards to this year, it may be due to my horribly laughable memory but it definitely seems like there aren’t nearly as many legitimate starting quarterback battle opportunities out there this year, doesn’t it? Obviously things can turn on a dime due to injuries or arrests or getting caught with a Whizzinator and the like. But as we sit right here and now, I can only count about five total team situations where the starting QB job isn’t being securely held onto by a legitimate talent.
Despite it likely being the Dolphins’ strategy to throw Ryan Tannehill into the tempering rookie QB fire headfirst this year, I think I speak for all of us when I say that I hope this isn’t the case — at least initially — what with the team being featured on this season of Hard Knocks and all. You know, so we can be treated to an infinitely more intriguing, up-close-and-personal look into what could possibly be a three horse race down the stretch.
Speaking of the Dolphins being featured on Hard Knocks this season though, what better way to kick things off for the Arms Race feature than with this particular battle?
Miami Dolphins Projected QB Battle:
<Kindly imagine the Miami Dolphins logo using your imagination here. Or if you don't have one, click here to read the article in its entirety over at GridironGrotto.com>
Matt Moore vs. David Garrard vs. Ryan Tannehill
When it comes to Matt Moore, I always find myself wondering what exactly he brings to the table. What is it specifically about him that makes him appear appealing enough for front offices to consider handing him the reigns and essentially asking him to command and lead an entire professional football team. I can’t figure it out. Maybe he’s just a really great and charismatic interview or something.Prior to these last two seasons, many people were fond of suggesting that he just knew how to win. But an eight game sample size (6-2 record as a starter for those eight games in case you’re wondering) as a quarterback for two years wasn’t really doing it for me very much.And my gut feelings were justified when he subsequently went 1-4 in his final year in Carolina in 2010 and then broke even at 6-6 in spectacularly mediocre fashion last year in Miami. I’m sorry, but a 13-12 career starting quarterback record just isn’t going to cut it. So, again, what exactly is he bringing to the table? Because he’s apparently bringing something as he’s practically the unanimous favorite to win the starting gig for the upcoming season.
When it doubt… well, it’s time to cue up the stats methinks. Much props and thanks to the incomparable Pro Football Reference:
Code:
Year Tm G GS Cmp Att % Yds TD Int Y/A
2007 Car 9 3 63 111 56.8 730 3 5 6.6
2009 Car 7 5 85 138 61.6 1053 8 2 7.6
2010 Car 6 5 79 143 55.2 857 5 10 6
2011 Mia 13 12 210 347 60.5 2497 16 9 7.2
Career 35 25 437 739 59.1 5137 32 26 7Worst-case scenario? Sure. I guess I could get on board with that. But the Dolphins had an ample amount of time to procure a better option to battle David Garrard to potentially steer the ship until the seat was warm and ready for Ryan Tannehill. If anything, I would have expected them to dump Moore and keep Chad Henne as it appeared that things were finally beginning to click for him in regards to being serviceable under center until he got injured. Then again, it’s all about the Benjamin’s, baby. And this is especially so for a franchise like Miami where I imagine it’s more like living paycheck to paycheck but in a running-an-NFL-franchise sense.
While David Garrard certainly isn’t a world-beater any longer — if he ever was one at all — he at least has the potential to not steer the franchise wagon off the side of a cliff before it can be given over to Tannehill. I guess I’m just full of these confidence inspiring testimonials today it seems…
One of the counter arguments to knocks on Garrard’s talent and ability to be a big-time NFL quarterback is that he’s never really had much in the way of actual weapons surrounding him. In terms of receivers at least. Not once in his 4-5 years as the main guy in Jacksonville did a wide receiver ever eclipse the 1,000 yard mark. Not once. The closest were Mike Sims-Walker with 869 yards on 63 receptions in 2009 and Mike Thomas with 820 and 66 in 2010. If you look a bit closer at the receiver statistics from his time there though, this may not be a knock on him as much as it’s a testament to Garrard’s ability to spread the ball around to absolutely frigging everyone.
Considering he’s been in the NFL for what feels like it’s been 27 years now, Garrard certainly doesn’t have the whole youth and wellness thing on his side any longer. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let’s go ahead and take a closer look at his stats since 2006. Again, thanks to the straight consummate Pro Football Reference:
Code:
Year Tm G GS Cmp Att % Yds TD Int Y/A
2006 Jax 11 10 145 241 60.2 1735 10 9 7.2
2007 Jax 12 12 208 325 64 2509 18 3 7.7
2008 Jax 16 16 335 535 62.6 3620 15 13 6.8
2009* Jax 16 16 314 516 60.9 3597 15 10 7.0
2010 Jax 14 14 236 366 64.5 2734 23 15 7.5
Career 69 68 1238 1983 62.4 14195 81 50 7.2What stands out initially is that Garrard is clearly a more accurate passer — not that this comes at the expense of having a shorter-range passing game than Moore, though, as his yards per passing attempt is still a touch higher. Although his interceptions have taken an upturn in recent years, Garrard is otherwise much more consistent in regards to what you can expect of him. Not included in the listed statistics above are the respective career records of the two as starting quarterbacks: Garrard sitting just above .500 at 39-37 and Moore also sitting just above .500 but a bit less so at 13-12.
Although Garrard hasn’t reached receiving his AARP card status just yet, he does have substantially more mileage on his body than Moore does, in addition to literally missing all of last season due to surgery and the subsequent recovery he needed on a herniated disk in his back. Obviously not a career-ender by any means, but you have to wonder if it has perhaps shortened the time he has left on his odometer a bit — especially considering any kind of surgery in general at age 34 is pretty serious business.
All of this isn’t to say that David Garrard is going to do much of anything should he theoretically win the temporary starting nod. He’s already shown that, while quite accurate and a decent game manager, he’s not of the caliber where he can whip up something exceptionally delicious with sub-par ingredients. He’ll just cook you up something that’s pretty good if you put a bit of salt and pepper on it and eat it all while slightly intoxicated instead.
All in all, the skill position supporting cast on the Dolphin offense is literally nothing to write home about. Save perhaps for the daydream potential of a one-two punch combo Daniel Thomas and Reggie Bush if they didn’t have to contend with eight or more players stacked in the box blitzing the shiz out of them on every play. I’m sure it’s also a pretty clear indicator that you’re having some significant offensive issues when Davone Bess and Brian Hartline — aka career WR3 guys, and that’s being generous — are your top two receivers on the depth chart.
Maybe it’s not all bad, though. You have to figure that you’re going to have to toss Ryan Tannehill into the deep waters at some point regardless. Or they will if they did indeed draft him to be the future quarterback for the franchise at least. While some people believe that young quarterbacks benefit greatly from learning the intricacies of the offense on the bench, you have to realize that these people are referring to quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady who did so while tutoring under equally-great field generals such as Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe. Not Matt Moore and David Garrard. And calm down, I’ll give you that Drew Bledsoe probably shouldn’t be considered/called “great” per se, so let’s just roll with above average for him for now and call it a day.
Unless the Dolphins don’t have faith in their offensive line to keep Tannehill from getting pounded into the painkiller cabinet week after week, why would they want to prolong the process any longer than it has to be? Just toss the kid from the nest and see if he flies away like a big boy with the franchise gripping tightly to his back. It’s either going to work or it’s not.
In the interests of making an actual prediction, I’m going on record saying that David Garrard will win the Week 1 starting job before eventually handing the reigns over to Ryan Tannehill just before the team’s Week 7 bye week. Or right after it. There, I bolded it all for you so you can more easily take it to the bank.
Actually, nevermind — that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. I bolded it so it would stand out and all that good stuff.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of “A Look Into the 2012 NFL Pre-Season Quarterback Arms Race” where we’ll delve into the whole New York Jets/Mark Sanchez/Tim Tebow love triangle. Trust me when I say that you definitely won’t want to miss it. It’s going to be good times!
TL;DR - Upon further review, Matt Moore has no business under center for the Dolphins until Ryan Tannehill is good to go. Not that David Garrard is much better, but you at least know what you're getting with him. Formal prediction that Garrard will win the temporary starting gig before handing it off to the boy wonder either just before or just after the team's Week 7 bye week. Fin.
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