Snakell Beast
Active Roster
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2012
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 14
Miami has, it seems, worse luck when it comes to quarterbacks than any other team in modern times. We're damned if we do, and damned if we don't. When we pass on guys, (Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Mahomes, Allen, etc) they pop in a big way. When we draft guys (Henne, Tannehill, Tua?) they seem to struggle at best, and seem to improve after they leave. What could possibly be causing such unwaveringly poor choices and outcomes to continue to haunt our Dolphins?
I have a few theories:
1. As soon as we get a guy, we anoint him and immediately ENTITLE him to the job. In fact, we tend to eliminate any possible competition he might have from other QB's...in many cases trading or cutting other potential QB's on the roster to remove the possibility of competition.
There are a few instances of exceptions to this Dolphins doctrine, but it's fairly consistent and it always stunts the QB's growth as far as I am concerned. To a degree every team does this, but Miami does it like no one else.
2. In addition to entitlement to the position and a lack of challenges to their assumed positional supremacy, anointed Miami quarterbacks can also expect the second part of the equation...total apologism and coddling. Once Miami has it's precious new toy at the QB position, it seems we try very hard to make them look as good as we can, often even restricting what we allow them to do so they don't get exposed or look bad in games
...now again most teams try to slowly phase in a new quarterback and build up their confidence and experience, but the dolphins have an almost pathological aversion to any kind of negative reinforcement. It's like every pick, missed throw or drive killing sack is a catastrophic event that must be avoided at all costs.
In my opinion, hamstringing a young quarterback for fear of public ridicule is a terrible way to develop a strong minded winner who executes well under pressure...and restricting a weak quarterback to only what he can do well never forces him to adapt and grow his game.
It's foolish because you can destroy a potentially excellent quarterback's confidence and instincts, and you waste time trying to "develop" the guys that simply don't have what it takes because you never ask them to do things that are difficult enough to expose whether or not they have what it takes.
I'm a big proponent of a Baptism by fire approach. While it's not fair to ask someone to do things they haven't been adequately prepared to do (which oddly enough we sort of have done to Tua this season) it's inevitable that, once properly prepared, a quarterback can either effectively perform the task at hand, or he cannot...no amount of careful avoidance, or attempted circumvention, will change that.
The best approach is to assess how much command of the offense and plays are necessary for a QB to be successful, then put him in and get out of his way once you've coached him to that point.
Miami meddles and coddles too much. It's almost impossible for us to develop a QB to the right combination of confidence and prudence, of intellect and instinct. It's a delicate balancing act, and Miami keeps putting their thumbs on the scale, trying to tip the outcome in our favor.
With all of this in mind, I think we should try a new approach with Tua. I like how Flores threw him out there and told him to sink or swim (and it's certainly better than the coddling most other QB's get with us) but I feel we should at least give him the optimum conditions to be successful ON HIS OWN TERMS if we are to judge accurately if he is our long term answer.
I'm comfortable with his physical weaknesses (below average arm strength, slow lateral movement, poor pocket presence, conservative throwing tendencies) because many quarterbacks have won or been in Super Bowls with roughly the same capabilities as Tua...Jimmy G and Jared Goff are prime recent examples. They both have most of the same weaknesses as Tua, and they both have looked excellent (at times almost elite) in stretches.
My point is let's unify as a fan base and let Tua be our group project...really give him the best chance to be his best self. If he gets there and it isn't enough, we can always move on...but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.
I wish Tua was 6'6 with a 90 yard cannon and a sub 4.2 40 time...but that's just not him...so let's stop obsessing over what he ISN'T and try to get the most out of what he IS or CAN BE. Make no mistake about it.
Most likely, Flores and Grier (and many of the players they have brought in) are inextricably attached to the success of Tua. The last thing we should do is roll the dice on ANOTHER QB that is bound to have flaws (some maybe less manageable) and maybe wind up right back where we started again in a year or two. Let's try to get this one right for a change.
I have a few theories:
1. As soon as we get a guy, we anoint him and immediately ENTITLE him to the job. In fact, we tend to eliminate any possible competition he might have from other QB's...in many cases trading or cutting other potential QB's on the roster to remove the possibility of competition.
There are a few instances of exceptions to this Dolphins doctrine, but it's fairly consistent and it always stunts the QB's growth as far as I am concerned. To a degree every team does this, but Miami does it like no one else.
2. In addition to entitlement to the position and a lack of challenges to their assumed positional supremacy, anointed Miami quarterbacks can also expect the second part of the equation...total apologism and coddling. Once Miami has it's precious new toy at the QB position, it seems we try very hard to make them look as good as we can, often even restricting what we allow them to do so they don't get exposed or look bad in games
...now again most teams try to slowly phase in a new quarterback and build up their confidence and experience, but the dolphins have an almost pathological aversion to any kind of negative reinforcement. It's like every pick, missed throw or drive killing sack is a catastrophic event that must be avoided at all costs.
In my opinion, hamstringing a young quarterback for fear of public ridicule is a terrible way to develop a strong minded winner who executes well under pressure...and restricting a weak quarterback to only what he can do well never forces him to adapt and grow his game.
It's foolish because you can destroy a potentially excellent quarterback's confidence and instincts, and you waste time trying to "develop" the guys that simply don't have what it takes because you never ask them to do things that are difficult enough to expose whether or not they have what it takes.
I'm a big proponent of a Baptism by fire approach. While it's not fair to ask someone to do things they haven't been adequately prepared to do (which oddly enough we sort of have done to Tua this season) it's inevitable that, once properly prepared, a quarterback can either effectively perform the task at hand, or he cannot...no amount of careful avoidance, or attempted circumvention, will change that.
The best approach is to assess how much command of the offense and plays are necessary for a QB to be successful, then put him in and get out of his way once you've coached him to that point.
Miami meddles and coddles too much. It's almost impossible for us to develop a QB to the right combination of confidence and prudence, of intellect and instinct. It's a delicate balancing act, and Miami keeps putting their thumbs on the scale, trying to tip the outcome in our favor.
With all of this in mind, I think we should try a new approach with Tua. I like how Flores threw him out there and told him to sink or swim (and it's certainly better than the coddling most other QB's get with us) but I feel we should at least give him the optimum conditions to be successful ON HIS OWN TERMS if we are to judge accurately if he is our long term answer.
I'm comfortable with his physical weaknesses (below average arm strength, slow lateral movement, poor pocket presence, conservative throwing tendencies) because many quarterbacks have won or been in Super Bowls with roughly the same capabilities as Tua...Jimmy G and Jared Goff are prime recent examples. They both have most of the same weaknesses as Tua, and they both have looked excellent (at times almost elite) in stretches.
My point is let's unify as a fan base and let Tua be our group project...really give him the best chance to be his best self. If he gets there and it isn't enough, we can always move on...but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.
I wish Tua was 6'6 with a 90 yard cannon and a sub 4.2 40 time...but that's just not him...so let's stop obsessing over what he ISN'T and try to get the most out of what he IS or CAN BE. Make no mistake about it.
Most likely, Flores and Grier (and many of the players they have brought in) are inextricably attached to the success of Tua. The last thing we should do is roll the dice on ANOTHER QB that is bound to have flaws (some maybe less manageable) and maybe wind up right back where we started again in a year or two. Let's try to get this one right for a change.
