Friday night's game is not another preseason match — it's the final dress rehearsal for many Miami Dolphins players on the bubble. This game is their last chance to prove their worth and secure a spot in the National Football League. Some players will battle in this final preseason game, each with an individual goal — to win a roster spot with the Dolphins, make an impression on another team in the league, or raise their value by moving up the depth chart. These players' ambitions will be displayed on the field as cutdown day looms large in the upcoming week. On the Tuesday after the game, the coaching staff will decide who has earned a spot on the final 53-man roster or has made one of the 16 spots on the Practice Squad. Positions such as backup quarterback, running back offensive line, defensive line, and secondary will all be up for grabs in one way or another. The Dolphins are looking to add depth to the roster, and it could come down to how certain players perform on Friday night. "We will play some starters; we won't play others," coach Mike McDaniel said on Wednesday. "The strategy is just where guys are at. There's jobs to be won and then to really evaluate all of the jobs at stake, you end up prioritizing certain aspects of your team and getting reps for the guys that haven't played in games as much." Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played in the preseason finale last season, but the chances are low that Tagovailoa will play against Tampa. The reasoning is partly because Miami has a banged-up wide receiver corps. Many have been on the sidelines this preseason with nagging injuries. "For a majority of the starters [Wednesday] is a very big practice because some of them won't play — there will be some that do, but that is just kind of how I look at it overall," McDaniel said. "Case by case, but trending that way." Miami Dolphins (2-0) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) Date/Time: Friday, August 23, 2024, 7:30 PM EDT Venue: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL Preseason History: A Dolphins win would be Miami's third consecutive victory this preseason after defeating Atlanta 20-13 and Washington 13-6 in Weeks 1 and 2 at Hard Rock Stadium. It would also be Miami's preseason win against the Buccaneers, giving the Dolphins a 19-15 advantage in the all-time preseason series with Tampa Bay. TV: WFOR4 Miami | WPTV West Palm Beach | WINK-TV, Fort Myers, WFTV / WRDQ - Orlando | KHON-TV, Hawaii (Steve Goldstein, Play-By-Play; Kim Bokamper, Analyst; Mike Cugno, Sideline) Radio: WBGG 105.9 - FM, WIOD 610-AM (Jimmy Cefalo, Play-By-Play; Joe Rose, Analyst) | Dolphins Spanish Radio, WTZU-HD2 94.9 (Roly Martin, Play-By-Play; Eduardo Martell, Analyst) Buccaneers vs. Dolphins Odds, Spread, and Total — via DraftKings Sports Book; odds subject to change; please gamble responsibly. Spread: Buccaneers -3, Dolphins +3 Money Line: Buccaneers -162, Dolphins +136 Over/Under: Dolphins Over 37.5 (-112), Buccaneers Under 37.5 (-108)
With the exception of that last interception on Miami's last drive, its apparent to me that Thompson has earned the back-up spot over White. I think we'll see McGowan on the practice squad. He was Thompson's go to it seemed. Jeff Wilson Jr will just barely make the 53 man squad.
Thompson is clearly the best choice for the #2 backup role. I felt like he should have been the backup last year but the margin is much wider now. White seems like a nice guy but I'd cut him if I were Miami.
White was a waste from the beginning. He's never shown us anything to prove it was worthwhile signing him.
Could be they are trying to speed up the process of letting other teams have a look because they want to bring him back on the cheap. But I hope not
Very early in camp and first preseason game I noticed he had checked out and wrote that he was dangerous. We all saw that come to fruition in Tampa
All I can think of McDaniel saw potential in him but apparently White either couldn’t or wouldn’t put in the work necessary to master McDaniels offense. Granted, it was preseason against Tampa Bay. None of the starters were playing. White didn’t have the benefit (if you’d categorize our OL a benefit) of the starting OL blocking for him however… If you looked at White and then looked at Thompson, it was quite obvious which of the two were poised and demonstrated confidence in the pocket and command of the offense. That flash of lightening White had with the Jets was just that, a flash of lightening…here one second and gone the next.
Thompson didn't have a DE given a free rush to sack him almost before he got the ball. Another DE blow up the guard to cause the deflected pass. Another DE blow up the guard to stop the 3rd drive on 3rd and short.
First line is fair, i neve saw the fire in him that I thought he should have. Second line, if you watch the plays he made some plays, but the OL cost him. If that had been Tua the OL would have gotten the blame.
You guys see way more in Thompson then I do. He missed several open receivers early then laughed and smiled about it. He threw his normal and typical bad interception and was lucky a couple others were no intercepted. Would not surprise me to see White brought back at a discounted price, BUT I'm not really impressed with either of them.
I don't think anyone is impressed with him but he was better, he is cheaper, and he threw less hospital balls.
The bottom line is, we didn't have a backup QB who could win games before cutting White and we still don't.
Neither is a quality NFL backup. I wouldn’t trust Thompson to win a couple of games if we needed him to, but I wouldn’t trust White to win a quarter at this point. They need to watch the waiver wire closely these next two days.
Quality backups are starters. The rare few who are actually decent go to teams where they have a shot to start. Thompson, imo, is fine. If he comes in, you want basic execution and then hope the D, running game and Hill bail him out. That's the same thing we say with 99% of backup QBs.
