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Dan Marino was the last of the quarterbacks taken in the famous 1983 QB draft class. He went on to become one of the greatest passers of the game and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Three games into the 2021 season and the Miami Dolphins are wondering if they will need to take another quarterback in the upcoming draft or think about trading for a player with a mountain of legal issues(DeShaun Watson).
First, a quick reminder that 83's class included John Elway and Jim Kelly. Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Kenny O'Brien were also taken before Marino-who went 27th in the first round. Side note: Washington took Darrell Green after Marino was selected.
Here we are 38 years later and Miami is still searching for the next great QB. The Dolphins took Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft. Before his hip injury in 2019, many thought he would be the top pick or one of the top picks in the draft. But the speculation began after his injury about what you would be getting. After a challenging COVID season last year, Tua is now sidelined with a rib injury and doubters are popping up on whether he is the long term answer for a franchise still looking for their next Marino.
Justin Herbert was selected after Tua by the Chargers and is looking like the next Dan Marino and the Chargers seem to have their quarterback for the next decade. Today's NFL, in many ways, has become a league where if you don't have a franchise QB you don't have a contending team.
For decades the Dolphins have tried to replace Marino. Many have tried and few have even made a few seasons as the Dolphins quarterback. While Miami has added signal callers over the years via free agency and trades, the drafting of a quarterback has been more misses than hits for Miami.
Since the drafting of Marino in 1983, the Dolphins have selected 14 quarterbacks in the draft. The results? Pretty awful.
Dan Marino started 240 regular season games during his career with Miami. The second most starts for a drafted quarterback since Marino? Ryan Tannehill with 88. Tannehill was the 12th overall pick in the 2012 draft. Miami ran Tannehill out of town and now he's flourishing in Tennessee. After Tannehill, Chad Henne had 31 starts as a Dolphin. He was a second round pick in the 2008 draft.
Tua has started 11 games as a Dolphin with a 7-4 record.
Only Scott Mitchell, a fourth round selection in 1990, with seven starts and John Beck(a second round pick in 2007, with four starts fill out the list. In 38 seasons since Dan Marino was drafted only five drafted QBs have started a game.
Those five QBs (Tannehill, Henne, Tua, Mitchell and Beck) combined for a record of 65-76.
Just to note, here are the names Miami has selected in the draft since Marino's draft in 1983:
1984 Dean May - 5th round
1986 Jeff Wickersham - 10th round
1987 Jim Karsatos - 10th round
1988 Kerwin Bell - 7th round
1990 Scott Mitchell - 4th round
1992 Mark Barsotti - 11th round
1998 John Dutton - 6th round
2001 Josh Heupe l- 6th round
2007 John Beck - 2nd round
2008 Chad Henne - 2nd round
2009 Pat White - 2nd round
2012 Ryan Tannehill - 1st round
2016 Brandon Doughty - 7th round
2020 Tua Tagovailoa - 1st round
Worth noting, Dan Marino won 147 games as a Dolphin. Second on the wins list is Bob Griese with 92. Third? Ryan Tannehill with 42. Rounding out the top five is Jay Fiedler with 36 and David Woodley with 27.
FInal thought: Best win % of a Dolphins' quarterback with 10 or more starts? Earl Morrall went 11-1.