I'm not going to side eye the coaches if they make this call ... but if Tua goes down for a 3 week stretch mid/late season and we NEED to win 2 of those games, I'm still betting on the proven and capable veteran vs the undrafted rookie. He's worth keeping around, but we are an aspiring serious team, and I don't feel great about making a UDFA rook the backup just because he did well against backups in the preseason with no tape on him or gameplanning against him.

In short, it's less about him and more about Teddy being a proven asset with a known ability to compete and win.

 

Word up!!

 

Personally, I'd make Skylar the #2 but keep Teddy as well. Or keep Skylar #3 but give him the nod if Tua gets hurt. Hopefully it doesn't matter and we don't see a backup QB this season.

However, I'm not taking Skylar at #2 because I think he's better than Teddy today, I'm taking him because what he could be in 2-3 years of solid development. I'm just all about developing solid prospects at QB; they're too hard to come by through trades when you need a sudden starter. It should ALWAYS be about developing the next QB, regardless of who's starting or how good they are.

 

Before you go on a rant about the “proven and capable veteran” vs the “undrafted rookie”, you should keep in mind that Thompson WAS drafted in the 7th round by Miami.

Bridgewater has looked like dirty dishwater this preseason while Thompson has worked his butt off and EARNED the QB2 position.

If Tagovailoa were to go down, I would have far more confidence in this kid who has shown command of the offense and has moved the ball and scored points than I have someone who once upon a time had a single pro bowl season

 

i get real confused with pre-season performances because of playing aginst 2nd and 3rd stringers, lack of gameplanning, coaching for process not outcomes etc. i’ve seen too many good players have poor pre seasons and too many bad players have great pre seasons.
The difference between projecting pre-season performance to regular season performance is bigger than college to NFL IMO.

which is a round about way of saying I’m happy with Teddy as number 2. I think it would be better than not to keep Skylar on the roster as number 3.

I mean if training camo and prevseason were true indicators Isiah Forde would be an All-pro by now.

 

With Tua’s health always a concern, he eventually will be #2.. behind teddy.. you know damn well teddy is going to be number 2 on the depth chart; thats just how its always been.

 

I'll say this. If we were offered anything at all for Teddy, I would take it.

I was looking at his contract, and cutting him really does not make financial sense. We would essentially eat his entire salary.

I think the smart move is to keep three QBs (unless we cannot trade Bridgewater) and keep Teddy as our number two for the sake of appearances. I do think that Jimmy G is gonna be the first QB to move, but after that, if you are a team with a QB injury, there is not a whole lot out there. If a team's starter goes down, and Teddy is our second stringer, we could begrudging ;-) part ways with him... If the draft compensation is right.

If Tua gets hurt in-game, I see no problem with putting Teddy in to finish the game. I really do think we will be fine. Now if he is out for say a month, I do think that is where all of a sudden, we could flip the depth chart in put in Thompson for a month.

 

If Grier follows the exact same business practice that he and other GMs follow, we’re going to lose Skyler Thompson…and I’m going to be pissed off to the highest level of pisstivity!

With what everyone has seen during preseason with these 2 quarterbacks…playing under the exact same circumstances, how anyone feels Dishwater should be QB2 when he was outplayed and outshined by a country mile by Thompson is beyond me.

But then again, everyone has been all for mediocrity with the teams for a generation

 

But it doesn't have to be Tua going down for the whole season. What if Tua is out for a couple of games? The season is salvageable in that scenario which means you need your best option. Which is Teddy most likely.

I would rather Skylar being #2 then poached off the practice squad but him as #3 is the best option.

 

I think we have to keep Thompson at this point. There's nothing wrong with running 3 QBs. He can remain inactive on game days, but no way should we just let him potentially get poached from the PS. He needs to make the roster.

 

I feel he should make the team.Even against back ups he played good every opportunity.

 

Skylar #2.
Teddy #3.

 

Be careful what you wish for.

 

I agree with the sentiments that it's only pre-season and he was largely playing against backups and third stringers, but you can only beat what's in front of you and he's done that this pre-season.

I think the big question (and one we won't get honestly answered) is how coachable is he? He's an older rookie being almost a full calendar year older than Tua and so we don't have loads of years to stash him away to get him up to speed to play with the firsts if he's called upon.

 

Teddy has done the same and hasn’t faired nearly as well

 

One thing I like about Skylar is he always seems to be looking downfield first then works back.

 

Something I've just thought about, how much does the fact that everybody plays pretty vanilla schemes during pre-season impact the decision here? Could it be that Thompson looks fine against these more basic schemes but when teams start to get exotic he falls apart?

 

There's really no precedent here- he's a 7th round rookie that would inevitably make rookie mistakes if he were to start this year (not saying that's a possibility). The offense he ran was simplified though because that's what you do in preseason...especially with a bunch of guys who likely won't make the roster, you don't want them going to other teams dictating the playbook. But what he ran was at least based on the offense we'll run this season- just the "easy version" with simplified reads.

I'm not buying the hype that this kid is the next Brady or Burrow, because we wouldn't know that for 1-2 starting seasons minimum. But what I hope happens is that our team is blowing people out in the first half and Skylar gets some quality "mop-up" duty in the 4th quarter. That only happens if we're a dominant team, but gosh...I think we actually are.

To directly answer your question, we have no idea what he'd look like. It's a pretty safe bet though that he'd have some great moments and some cringe-worthy mistakes. That's what rookies are supposed to do in the NFL.

 

Bridgewater doesn't have to prove anything. He has been in the league for almost 10 years and has been a consistent performer everywhere he was went. I'm sure he was told he was a lock to be the backup quarterback, and he would be a great one.

I am all for trying to keep Thompson around as the third quarterback, he at least has earned that.

But, if Tua had to miss the second half of a game and it's tied on the road, I for damn sure would want Bridgewater coming in that game and not a seventh round rookie.

 

Bridgewater is likely going through the motions, been there done that kind of thing

 

A fine point. What are we expecting for the other positions on offence?

RB: Edmonds, Mostert, Gaskins, Ingold (FB)
WR: Hill, Waddle, Wilson, Ez, Cracaft, Bowden (That one is a real doozy to try and figure out)
TE: Gesicki, Smythe, Long

 

Man, he looked worlds better than Reid Sinnett. :tongue: