Injuries in the NFL can often derail a season or championship windows of teams, and no position is more devastating to lose than starting quarterback. Despite all the moves made by the NFL to prioritize quarterback safety, these injuries are all too common today. Not too many teams suffer from the injury bug more than the Miami Dolphins.
Over the past seven seasons, the Dolphins, along with the New York Jets and Chicago Bears, two notoriously snakebitten franchises at the quarterback position, have failed to have a starting quarterback start every regular season game in a year. This all came to a head in 2022 when Miami starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered two concussions over the course of the season, with the first one leaving him in the fencing position and threatening his life.
Despite losing their starter and backup Teddy Bridgewater for the season, the Dolphins still nearly beat the heavily-favored Buffalo Bills in the 2022 Wild Card with third-string rookie Skylar Thompson at the helm. The Miami Dolphins are unfortunately no stranger to losing their starting quarterback in potentially contending seasons, as the team has a history of quarterback setbacks.
Miami Dolphin Quarterback Injury History
Early Era Miami Dolphin Quarterbacks
The first game in Miami Dolphins history in 1966 actually saw the team immediately resort to using two quarterbacks. The first quarterback in Dolphin history, Dick Wood, threw four interceptions in the first half which led to his benching. The Miami Dolphins’ leading passer in their first season was actually their punter, George Wilson Jr.
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, shoulder injuries kept him out for the final four games. Thanks in large part to their poor quarterback play, the Dolphins were able to draft Bob Griese, who became the team’s first true franchise quarterback. Griese is a Hall of Famer and considered one of the better passers of the 1970s. Despite this, he only played two full regular seasons. In fact, in the three seasons where the Dolphins made the Super Bowl with Griese at the helm, he failed to start in a full season, with backup Earl Morrall starting the majority of games during their 1972 perfect season.
Woodley and Marino Era
After Griese came David Woodley, the bridge between the Bob Griese and Dan Marino eras, who is still the third-youngest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl game behind the aforementioned Marino and Ben Roethlisberger. Woodley only started in that one full season where he led the Dolphins to a Super Bowl loss, but even that comes with an asterisk as it was during the strike-shortened 1982 season, though this surprising success led them to be the beneficiaries of Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino’s draft slide.
Marino, in contrast to Griese and Woodley, was very durable throughout his career, only missing the majority of a season once in 1994 due to an Achilles tear. However, in an act of horrible timing, Marino’s tenure fell right between the monstrous “Killer Bees” defense and the criminally underrated early 2000s defense led by Pat Surtain, Sam Madison, Zach Thomas, and Jason Taylor.
Statistical Woes of Dolphins Injuries
Beyond Marino’s eleven years of playing every regular season game, there are only eight instances of a Dolphin quarterback playing a full season (nine if you count Woodley in 1982): four of them were from Ryan Tannehill (Miami’s main starting quarterback from 2011 to 2018), two of them were from Bob Griese, and the final two were from Jay Fiedler in 2001 (a quarterback who never fully matured into a solid starting quarterback) and Chad Pennington (who’s more known for his injuries in the NFL and being the first quarterback taken before Tom Brady in the 2000 draft).
Because of this, the Dolphins have only had a starting quarterback play every regular season game in a third of their team’s seasons, which is 21st in the league, percentage-wise, and disregarding Marino’s 17-year career, the Fins have a percentage of 22.5%, good for second to last behind the Titans. This volatility at the position has led backups like Matt Moore to gain a cult following among Miami fans.
What Could Have Been
One final anecdote to drive the nail into the Miami Dolphins’ unlucky quarterback coffin. During the 2005 offseason, head coach Nick Saban was looking for a new quarterback to help bolster the fading team. Both of the top names in the NFL, a potential trade acquisition and a free agent, were coming off injuries. After examing medical examinations, they decided it would be best to trade with the Minnesota Vikings for Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper only played four poor games for the Fins before injuring his shoulder and being released in 2006. The other guy? Some undersized quarterback named Drew Brees.
Looking Forward
Despite all their setbacks at the quarterback position, the Miami Dolphins are still one of the most consistently successful teams in the league, with them having the sixth-highest winning percentage of all time thanks to great coaching and solid supporting casts surrounding the quarterback position. They have been able to succeed in spite of uncertainty abound. The Dolphins embody the phrase “Next man up” as well as any team in the NFL. Eventually, the stars will align for the Fins and their injury concerns are in the past. Perhaps the promising Tua Tagovailoa will bring the team over the top once again.
Main Image: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
