Ready or Not: It’s time for the Dolphins to see what they have in Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley

Mike McDaniel isn’t ready to name a starter, but if Miami has any hope of turning the season around, it’s time to hand the keys over to Tyler Huntley.

The Miami Dolphins‘ ever-evolving door at the quarterback position is once again a thing, with third-year quarterback Skylar Thompson getting his fourth career start vs. the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon. If you weren’t aware, Miami lost 24-3 — looking jetlagged and overmatched throughout. And although it wasn’t only Thompson’s fault for the poor offensive showing, he also did the team no favors.

Thompson was under duress for much of the first half, getting sacked five times while completing a pedestrian 13 of 19 passes for 107 yards. He finished the first half with a 4.9 QBR before leaving the game with a chest injury in the second quarter. His absence would pave the way for journeyman Tim Boyle to take over.

Boyle wouldn’t look awful, completing 7 of 13 passes for 79 yards. Tyreek Hill mentioned a certain aura about him in the huddle, but maybe part of that is because of what we had witnessed in the first half. Nevertheless, with the Seagulls in the rearview and a Monday Night Football matchup with the Tennessee Titans at McDaniel’s doorstep, it was time for Miami’s head coach to name a starting quarterback — or so we had thought.

“I think we have an important 48 hours to kind of see where (Skylar’s) at and then also to get in front of the rest of the quarterback room and talk with them, talk with coaches, talk with some of the players to get them as most comfortable with the varied uncertainty and we’ll just have to take it a day at a time, there’s a lot of stuff on the table. And in moments that are broader than just the quarterback, just the overall offense and the team in general, I think you have to open up your mind to a plethora of different solutions considering your current answers, as objectively you could evaluate haven’t been the right ones.”

The way I see it — despite how bad it looked a week ago — is that Skylar Thompson knows the entire playbook. McDaniel may feel that it’s in his best interest to start Thompson — if he can play — and then see how the game dictates the use of Tyler Huntley.

That said, there’s no doubt (in my mind) that Huntley is the best healthy quarterback on the roster. However, in McDaniel’s complex offense, with so much of the season left to be played, it might be better not to rush the transition, even if the intent is to get Tua Tagovailoa back sooner than later.

Furthermore, allowing McDaniel to use both Thompson and Huntley could be an advantage against the Tennessee Titans, who have had Miami’s number as of late, winning two out of the last three games vs. the Dolphins.

But let’s stop kidding ourselves…

There’s no reason to trot Skylar out there after suffering a chest injury that looked pretty severe and his poor play vs. the Seahawks. Miami really has no reason to risk further injury to Thompson vs. a Titans team that plays stout defense and is hungry to win their first game of the season. And, oh yeah, did I mention Huntley was the best healthy quarterback on the roster?!

Additionally, Snoop brings an aspect to Miami’s offense that we did not get to see from Thompson, and I’m not entirely sure Boyle possesses. A staple that McDaniel credits to his time with the Washington Commanders and rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III.

“The good news is within the framework of the offense, there’s typically some of those principles (Zone-Read) that are put in intentionally for the preseason, and that’s something that was built within the offense back from 2012 – actually, an ode to Robert Griffin III on that one.”

McDaniel continued:

“It’s not an exact science…but if we were going to go in that direction, we would probably introduce a couple of things that for the coaching staff there’s a lot of familiarity with, specifically from our history with multiple teams. And then for the players, they have gotten a dose of that since they have been here, and I think in the first training camp install, I had a couple zone reads in. And I think, I’m pretty sure that in preseason 2022, Game 2 maybe, Skylar (Thompson) actually ran some.”

During his four-year career, Huntley has started nine games exclusively for the Baltimore Ravens, completing 64.6% of his passes for 1,957 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His 115 carries for 509 yards and three touchdowns resulted in 38 first downs, making him a legit threat on the ground. His mobility will also come in handy to extend plays behind an offensive line that can sometimes struggle.

But, ultimately, it’s his experience commanding the huddle and what he can do as a passer that should open things up for Miami’s offense and, hopefully, get things back on track in a primetime matchup against Will Levis and the Titans.

Here’s every Tyler “Snoop” Huntley dropback from the 2023 NFL season:

This offense will never be the same without Tua Tagovailoa at the helm, this we already knew. But with the season slowly starting to wither away, the time is now for Miami to make the change at quarterback. Because IMO, Tyler Huntley gives the Dolphins the best chance to win.

#InSnoopHuntleyWeTrust

What are your thoughts on the Miami Dolphins’ current quarterback situation? Do you think the team should start Skylar Thompson if he’s healthy and medically cleared? Should Tim Boyle get the start after his limited action last week in Seattle? Or do you agree that the time is now to unleash the man, the myth, the legend, Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley? Let us know in the comments section below!