The Miami Dolphins still need to find their quarterback of the future
I sincerely hope that the Miami Dolphins do not think their franchise quarterback or quarterback of the future currently resides on their roster. Chad Pennington would be the best option, but his inability to stay healthy combined with his age eliminate him from any quarterback of the future discussion. Chad Henne, while he has an above-average .639 completion percentage this season, has an annoying propensity to throw more interceptions than touchdowns, a turnover habit the Dolphins have to be getting tired of.
Since the Dolphins have already seen what Pennington and Henne have to offer and have not found themselves pleased with the results, they may be tempted to turn to Tyler Thigpen. By doing so they would be making a grave error because while Henne is never going to be anything more than an average quarterback over the course of his career, he will still give them more value than anything Thigpen will provide.
To be fair to Tyler Thigpen, he really has no chance to succeed in the NFL because he was an extremely mediocre college quarterback during his time at Coastal Carolina University. As a four-year starter, in games where Thigpen either attempted the most passes or threw for the most passing yards, he only managed a .554 completion percentage.
For a quarterback playing in the football bowl subdivision (FBS), a completion percentage that low is incredibly poor, but for someone playing in the inferior football championship subdivision (FCS), it is almost embarrassing and should kill any NFL prospects. A truly elite quarterback, one who is ready to play for the NFL, would have completely dominated such lesser competition. That Thigpen not only failed to do so, but performed so miserably, is an enormous indictment against his talent.
Another strike against Thigpen, as if he even needed any more, is that his career college completion percentage is only that high because of his senior season's .640 completion percentage. NFL teams should always be wary of a quarterback who has one season that is so far above what he has done in other ones, which is what Thigpen's senior season represents.
This season was so out of character for him that the .640 completion percentage he posted his senior year is statistically significantly better than the .497 completion percentage he managed in his other three years. None of his other seasons were outliers in the same vein. As with all outliers in statistical samples, Thigpen's senior season should be discounted.
He is certainly not that accurate a passer, which he has already shown with his career .545 completion percentage. Given the chance to play in more games, that is about the level of accuracy which any team that employs Thigpen should expect. Such an inability to throw the ball accurately would make Thigpen one of the worst NFL quarterbacks.
For the rest of the season, given their options, the Dolphins really have no choice but to start Henne for the rest of the games and hope they can find an elite quarterback in the NFL draft next year.
Since the Dolphins have already seen what Pennington and Henne have to offer and have not found themselves pleased with the results, they may be tempted to turn to Tyler Thigpen. By doing so they would be making a grave error because while Henne is never going to be anything more than an average quarterback over the course of his career, he will still give them more value than anything Thigpen will provide.
To be fair to Tyler Thigpen, he really has no chance to succeed in the NFL because he was an extremely mediocre college quarterback during his time at Coastal Carolina University. As a four-year starter, in games where Thigpen either attempted the most passes or threw for the most passing yards, he only managed a .554 completion percentage.
For a quarterback playing in the football bowl subdivision (FBS), a completion percentage that low is incredibly poor, but for someone playing in the inferior football championship subdivision (FCS), it is almost embarrassing and should kill any NFL prospects. A truly elite quarterback, one who is ready to play for the NFL, would have completely dominated such lesser competition. That Thigpen not only failed to do so, but performed so miserably, is an enormous indictment against his talent.
Another strike against Thigpen, as if he even needed any more, is that his career college completion percentage is only that high because of his senior season's .640 completion percentage. NFL teams should always be wary of a quarterback who has one season that is so far above what he has done in other ones, which is what Thigpen's senior season represents.
This season was so out of character for him that the .640 completion percentage he posted his senior year is statistically significantly better than the .497 completion percentage he managed in his other three years. None of his other seasons were outliers in the same vein. As with all outliers in statistical samples, Thigpen's senior season should be discounted.
He is certainly not that accurate a passer, which he has already shown with his career .545 completion percentage. Given the chance to play in more games, that is about the level of accuracy which any team that employs Thigpen should expect. Such an inability to throw the ball accurately would make Thigpen one of the worst NFL quarterbacks.
For the rest of the season, given their options, the Dolphins really have no choice but to start Henne for the rest of the games and hope they can find an elite quarterback in the NFL draft next year.
Labels: Miami Dolphins, NFL, Tyler Thigpen
posted by David at
8:12 PM
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