Last year, Mike White won a close competition for No. 2 quarterback in Miami, over Skylar Thompson. This year, the chase is “neck and neck.”
Last night, Skylar Thompson got the nod as the starter for the first preseason game of 2024.
Thompson handled seven drives through two quarters. He completed eight of 19 passes for 95 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
White ran seven drives in the second half. He completed four of 14 passes for 26 yards.
“I think each quarterback has a different set of circumstances,” coach Mike McDaniel told reporters after the game. “That’s why you try to replicate in a competition, you try to replicate that as close as possible. Inverse situation at some point in the preseason. I thought both quarterbacks in their own scenarios had some issues during the game and then they were able to bounce back and do some things, specifically in the second half. I wanted to get Mike in a rhythm and there was some stuff outside of his control that I wanted to see how he would respond to that and I thought he did a good job responding, even though we had a rough, rough set of circumstances. We were down in the second half to one tight end and one running back and we had a receiver that we just got on board two days ago, so it was a tough situation for him to be in, and I thought he maintained his composure, but we still have a ton of work to do.”
McDaniel’s comments suggest that, in future preseason games, White will get the first crack. Regardless, Thompson believes the game is slowing down for him, in his third season.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Thompson said. “I think being able to anticipate windows and kind of trust my feet. I felt like I did a good job today of just getting the ball out on time. There were a couple plays where I had to extend and scramble a little bit. But for the most part I just felt like getting the ball out and seeing it well has been a big point of emphasis for me just to improve on. I’m interested to go back and watch the film and kind of see how it looks on film. Things I did well and things I can get better at. That’s the whole point of these exhibition games is to evaluate them and get better for everybody.”
Ideally, the Dolphins won’t need either of them this year. But they need someone to be ready to go, in the event that Tua Tagovailoa is injured.
In 2024, he didn’t miss a game. That was the first time he went wire to wire in his four-year career.
So, yes, the Dolphins need to be ready. It remains to be seen which guy between Thompson and White will be the next man up for the coming season.