Talking Points: Miami Dolphins? quarterback depth among the best in the NFL

A trio of Miami Dolphins talking points to help go you through your Thursday:

1. Dolphins? quarterback depth among the best in the league.

It?s weird to say, considering that the Dolphins? inability to find a quarterback has been the prime reason for their futility over the past 12 seasons.

But it?s true ? the Dolphins currently have a solid, though not exactly spectacular, stable of quarterbacks on the roster. And this isn?t just my opinion ? the NFL folks at ESPN agree.

Yesterday they released an article that ranks all 32 backup quarterback situations, and the Dolphins came in third, behind Dallas (Kyle Orton) and Tennessee (Matt Hasselbeck/Jake Locker).

Obviously, we don?t know who the Dolphins? backup quarterback is yet ? Matt Moore, David Garrard and future franchise quarterback Ryan Tannehill still have to duke it out in training camp. Either way, it doesn?t matter: Moore proved his worth last year with a 6-6 record as a starter and 12th-best passer rating in the NFL; Garrard, when healthy, was mostly a Pro Bowl-caliber starter for Jacksonville for five seasons; and Tannehill, the No. 8 pick, could be the best quarterback the Dolphins have had since Dan Marino (at least the team hopes he will be).

In fact, you could argue that the Dolphins should be ranked ahead of the Titans for the No. 2 spot, given Hasselbeck?s age and Locker?s lack of experience. And there?s no question that the Dolphins have the best three-quarterback depth in the NFL.

Of course, there?s a lot of truth in the old saying, ?If you have two quarterbacks, you really have none.? Having depth is good and all, but having an established No. 1 quarterback is much more important. The Dolphins hope Tannehill eventually becomes that quarterback, but for now, the Dolphins have three quarterbacks with a lot of talent and a lot of question marks.

2. Hard Knocks will be good for Jeff Ireland.

The HBO all-access show will be good publicity for a lot of people in the Dolphins organization: New head coach Joe Philbin, mostly unknown to 99 percent of the country; the players on the team, whose personalities will be on display for the entire country to see; owner Stephen Ross, who is much more charming and personable off camera than he appears at news conferences.

And the bet here is that Ireland, entering his fifth season as the Dolphins? general manager, may benefit more than anyone from the show. Ireland over the past four years developed a reputation as cold and arrogant as Bill Parcells? prot?g?, particularly in one-on-one settings such as contract negotiations and pre-draft player interviews.

But Parcells is gone, and Ireland is being allowed to show his personal side to the media and fans. Hard Knocks is a perfect venue for Ireland to humanize himself to the football public. As Alex Marvez wrote this week for FoxSports.com:

?Don?t be surprised if Ireland ? whose heavy-handed negotiation tactics with agents tarnished his NFL reputation ? is featured trying to hammer out a contract extension with one of Miami?s pending 2013 free agents.?

Perfect. Wish I?d thought of that. What better way to improve Ireland?s image than to show him having an amicable contract negotiation with a fan favorite with an expiring contract, like Jake Long or Brian Hartline?

3. Lauren Tannehill goes underground.

No one has gained more national popularity since the NFL Draft since Lauren Tannehill ? and that includes her husband, Ryan, and top prospects like Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin.

Lauren Tannehill, an aspiring model, blew up the Internet on the night of the draft when she was shown on television, and went from 50 to 9,000 Twitter followers almost overnight. Last week, she blew up the Internet for the second time when photos from a supposed Maxim photo shoot surfaced and quickly went viral.

But it appears Tannehill, who married Ryan in January, is taking a step back from the spotlight. Her photos reportedly won?t appear in Maxim (at least for now), and it appears that she recently deleted her Twitter account, which was @LaurenTannehill.

Probably a wise move for the Tannehills to stay low-key for now. America will see plenty of them in August on Hard Knocks.

Tags: Andrew Luck, Bill Parcells, Brian Hartline, Dan Marino, David Garrard, Hard Knocks, Jake Locker, Jake Long, Jeff Ireland, Joe Philbin, Kyle Orton, Lauren Tannehill, Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Moore, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Stephen Ross

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2012 at 11:40 am and is filed under 2012 Offseason, Ben Volin, General NFL news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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