The Miami Dolphins made a major move on Wednesday, shaking up their quarterback depth chart after the team was eliminated from playoff contention. Starter Tua Tagovailoa was benched, sliding from the top of the position group to being the third player on the depth chart. Leaping from the third spot into the top spot is rookie Quinn Ewers, who has spent most of the season designated as the team’s emergency passer. Now, Tagovailoa will take on that role while Zach Wilson remains the team second-string option.
Head coach Mike McDaniel met with the media on Wednesday and discussed the change and where the team might be headed in the future.
He opened his media availability, stating, “The decision is complicated but simple; the simple piece is I think Quinn gives this team the best chance to win. Our focus is obviously to win the next three games but in particular, like I tell the players, we are focused on beating the Bengals so that was the motivation. Zach will be
backing him up and Tua will be the emergency third.”
Tagovailoa moved to third string
In explaining why Tagovailoa was moved to the bottom of the depth chart, McDaniel remarked, “I think it was the best for all parties involved, Quinn, Zach and Tua.”
With Tagovailoa serving as the third quarterback, the team will list him as inactive for the game, but he will be allowed to dress and enter the game if both Ewers and Wilson are injured. The move relieves some pressure off Ewers, removing the possibility that a bad throw or a poor drive leads to McDaniel putting Tagovailoa back in the game and ending the Ewers era for the offense before it ever really starts.
Quarterback reactions to change
McDaniel explained the reaction to the news in the quarterback room, saying, “All three quarterbacks, built through the relationship that you build together day-in, day-out, I think they understood that my intent and my motivation is concretely to do the best thing for the team. That being said, obviously Quinn’s conversation was different than Tua’s and Zach’s.
“Starting with Tua, I think it wasn’t easy for him to hear. It was a tough conversation, but also I think he exhibited what makes him a captain and a leader on this team is he understood what that means for his contribution to the team and how he’s going to help Quinn prepare for his first start. He displayed leadership skills by understanding, but as a competitor, it’s tough.
“Then Zach, I think he as a competitor was very disappointed and again I took the time to talk through the various reasons that ultimately I just flat out as easy as, I think Quinn, his disposition, understanding that it’s uncharted territory as a rookie starting, but his relationship with his teammates and the motivation, I think our team with him starting at the quarterback position gives us the best opportunity to beat the Bengals. Tough conversations, these aren’t easy decisions that I take lightly, but one of the things is that I understand exactly what my role is as the head coach; the point is to make the hard decisions, and I never deviate from doing what’s best for the collective and the organization because that’s what everyone is depending on me to do.”
As for Ewers reaction to getting his first start in the NFL, McDaniel reported, “I would say Quinn has a natural disposition of confidence, not cockiness but confidence, and I think if you saw his face on draft day, he’s a
competitor that believes in himself. I think he was very excited for the opportunity but also very understanding of what that means. He left my office and went to work.”
Reports on Tuesday indicated Ewers stayed late that night, working with coaches to accelerate his understanding of the gameplan the team will use against the Cincinnati Benagls on Sunday.
Quinn Ewers jumps Zach Wilson on depth chart
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As for why Ewers over Wilson, and whether he is already starting to focus on 2026 and the possibility of Ewers claiming the starting position next year, McDaniel responded that he is solely focused on winning this week and this year. “I don’t trivialize seasons, games – this 2025 team needed me to make the decision solely for what gives us the best chance to win, that includes all players. I understand the pros and cons of all the different formats of the way I could play this out, but I need convicted quarterback play, this team needs convicted quarterback play. I thought Quinn gave us the best chance to do that and that’s why I did it.”
Asked why he believes Ewers now gives the team a better chance to win over Tagovailoa, McDaniel explained, “I said it before but ultimately, the team needs, and I’m looking for, conviction in quarterback play. Understanding that he is a rookie, I felt that he would play the position most convicted which impacts every player on the field. Realistically, that’s what I was looking for. I needed more convicted play from the quarterback position, and I thought Quinn could deliver on that best.”
Tagovailoa struggling to play with conviction
Continuing that theme, McDaniel was asked why he thinks Tagovailoa is no longer playing with the conviction expected of the starting quarterback. The coach answered, “I think playing quarterback and being a starting quarterback and then being a franchise quarterback, these are all things that are very complex. I think this is a player that his MO had been growth and exceptional learner and he’s always evolving. There’s compounding variables that you can’t just pinpoint one or two things. I still believe that his growth can continue, but I couldn’t responsibly play this next game when I thought what the team needed was available and live and hope and wish and stuff. I’m not abstractly saying that I’m Nostradamus and it was because of this and this will happen. Flat out, I’m focused on the big decision that you have to make each and every week on who should get
opportunities, who should be playing, the biggest one being the quarterback and I rested on that conviction which is what I’m asking every player. It just lives by the standard with which I ask of every other player to play with conviction. You guys have heard me talk about it a ton, and I think he’s now
going to be focused on figuring that out.”
McDaniel-Tagovailoa relationship goes full circle, but where does it go next?
When McDaniel was hired in 2022 by the Dolphins, one of the first videos released by the team featured the coach calling Tagovailoa, who appeared to be a shell of a player who doubted his ability to play in the league. McDaniel immediately went to work to bolster Tagovailoa’s confidence, remind him of all the good plays he had made in college and early in his career, and build him into the quarterback who led the league in passer rating in 2022, passing yards in 2023, and yards per attempt in 2024. Tagovailoa became a Pro Bowl quarterback with McDaniel, but has clearly regressed this year, leading to McDaniel making the decision that it was time to move on from Tagovailoa as the starter. Asked about the “full circle” situation with Tagovailoa, McDaniel shied away from looking back at the start of the coach-quarterback relationship, but was more concerned with the present, explaining, “Out of principle, I try with all the integrity that I can possibly conjure up to do and think and be about the 2025 Dolphins. I don’t minimize any of that, and the way my brain works is I’m not – you’re talking about emotions. I have no idea – emotions are not part of my duty and in times where there’s tough decisions to be made, the furthest thing from my scope is how I feel. People are depending on me to do with full intentionality everything as best as I can do it. Thinking about those broad scopes, that’s dismissive to the players in that locker room, that’s dismissive to this team. I don’t go there, not because it doesn’t exist but because people are counting on me not to go there.”
McDaniel continued, looking at how his relationship with Tagovailoa evolves after the decision to bench him, explaining, “Well again, it comes back to real relationships are built on trust. The conversations explicitly with the guys that I knew the news wasn’t going to be exactly the best thing they’d want to hear, but they know my intent, and right, wrong or indifferent, my intent is to do what the team needs me to do. Within that, you grow through hard times. It’s as awkward as you want to make it, and I think each and every one of them understands what their job is to do this week and be on that. I think our relationships are earned, created and the point is to go through hard times and be able to understand there’s a difference in intent and action.”
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