QB Coming in the Draft for Dolphins?

The Miami Dolphins' unusually long list of positional needs heading into the draft has been well documented, and it doesn't include quarterback because of the presence on the roster of Tua Tagovailoa and new backup Zach Wilson.

But if the team is looking down the road in attacking this 2025 NFL draft, Tagovailoa's obvious durability concerns and the fact that Wilson is signed only through 2025 could lead to the Dolphins using one of their 10 draft picks on a quarterback to serve as a No. 3 option next season and potentially more down the line.

And the Dolphins very well could be addressing the quarterback position sooner rather than later, according to a report by CBSSports' Jonathan Jones.

"The Miami Dolphins are the other team sources are eyeing as a potential quarterback-grabber in the second, third or fourth rounds," Jones wrote. "Miami has 10 picks total, including four picks in those three rounds, so they have the ammunition to do it. 

"The Dolphins missed the playoffs last year in part because they didn't have a good plan for life without Tua Tagovailoa. They signed Zach Wilson in free agency, but he's the only other quarterback on the roster. Skylar Thompson, the only QB the team has drafted since taking Tagovailoa in 2020, went 1-3 as a starter and is now a Steelers backup."

HOW EARLY AND WHO COULD BE THE TARGET?

Notice that Jones' report didn't mention Round 1 as a possibility for the Dolphins taking a quarterback, which matches with GM Chris Grier's comments during his annual pre-draft press conference.

In light of the Dolphins being mentioned as wild-card possibilities for Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Grier was asked whether he would regardless of circumstances consider taking a quarterback in Round 1.

“I would say we have our starting quarterback, so I wouldn’t be looking to it," Grier said. "I never rule anything out, but I would not be looking to draft a quarterback in the first round.”

Grier did say after the end the 2024 seasons he wanted to beef up the position, and the signing of Wilson was just the start because the Dolphins will not be going to training camp with only quarterbacks on the roster, of that you can assured.

"That’s a position we will always focus on, and it will be a position that we will focus on this offseason," Grier said. "I will tell you that every stone will be unturned at that position, including the draft.”

THE QB PROSPECTS

So if the Dolphins indeed are ruling out — not entirely but practically — the first round for a quarterback, that would or should eliminate Cam Ward and Sanders as options, and possibly Jaxson Dart as well.

The pecking order among QB prospects will vary from scout to scout and analyst to analyst, but generally usually includes Jalen Milroe from Alabama, Will Howard from Ohio State, Kyle McCord from Syracuse, Quinn Ewers from Texas, Tyler Shough from Louisville and Dillon Gabriel from Oregon.

Gabriel already has been projected to the Dolphins in a couple of national seven-round mocks, but in the fifth round and not the fourth.

If the Dolphins go with a quarterback in the second round, it's more likely to be someone like Milroe or Shough.

For historical purposes, the Dolphins haven't taken a quarterback in Round 2 since 2009 when they selected Pat White out of West Virginia, following the second-round selections of Chad Henne in 2008 and John Beck in 2007.

The last time the Dolphins have drafted a quarterback in Round 4 was 1990 with Scott Mitchell out of Utah.

The Dolphins have never drafted a quarterback in the third round.

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