How Long Can Tyler Huntley Be A Solution In Miami?
Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
We have the answer to what the Miami Dolphins will do after Tua Tagovailoa’s devastating injury from last Thursday. While the Dolphins may be willing to trot out third-year backup Skylar Thompson it’s fair to assess him as an emergencies-only, developmental backup. The Phins and their weapons likely need a lot more juice at the position. They got it in Tyler Huntley, arguably the most desirable(non Ryan Tannehill) quarterback on the market, who Miami brought in as a free agent from the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad.
Huntley has spent most of his career serving as Lamar Jackson’s backup after signing with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2020. The former Utah Ute had been called upon to make nine starts in his career, and while Baltimore never let him air it out, Huntley had a decent 64.6% completion rate with eight touchdowns against seven interceptions over parts of 20 games. To a lesser extent than Jackson, Huntley could also make plays with his legs, scoring three touchdowns and racking up 509 yards on 115 carries.
This preseason saw him make a strong push to win the backup job for the Cleveland Browns, even over a veteran backup like Jameis Winston. Huntley averaged 6.3 yards per attempt in the preseason while throwing three touchdowns against two picks. Huntley didn’t make the Browns’ roster, and despite rumored interest elsewhere, he decided to bide his time on the Ravens’ practice squad.
Now he has a chance to prove himself with a 1-1 Dolphins team that is reeling not just from losing Tua, but from getting beaten down at home once again by the Buffalo Bills. The good news is, Huntley has kept a good team afloat before. In 2022, he stepped in for Jackson to start the second quarter of their game against the Denver Broncos. Huntley punched in the go-ahead touchdown on a 16-play, 91-yard drive in the fourth quarter to lift the Ravens to a 10-9 win. Baltimore went 2-2 over the next four games with Huntley at the helm, which was good enough to get the Ravens into the playoffs.
So, we know that Huntley can be the solution in Miami for the next few weeks. The question that this season may hinge on is: How much longer after that?
We’re taking Tua at his word that he has no intention of retiring, and that he’ll return to the field. We just have no idea when, except that it feels like there’s zero chance Miami will rush things. It could be six weeks. It could be 12 weeks. Maybe it’s the full season, or into next year. Concussions — particularly with the severity of Tagovailoa’s — don’t have a clean timetable.
So what happens if Huntley’s the guy who has to get the Dolphins into the playoffs, or even start in the postseason?
While this is certainly the worst-case scenario for Miami, who had Super Bowl designs with Tua, it might not be as apocalyptic as we think. Huntley isn’t Tagovailoa, and never will be, but he’s an intriguing dual-threat quarterback, and we’ve seen a recent trend of guys who were thought of as backups step into the big role somewhere and handle it well.
Who was Geno Smith before he took over the Seattle Seahawks offense in 2022? He was a bust, a journeyman quarterback with a 13-21 record as a starter, a 58.8% career completion percentage, and a 34-to-37 TD-to-INT ratio. In the right spot, with the right coaching, and in the right offense, however, he led the NFL in completion percentage in 2022. Now he’s coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons.
The Browns may have cut Huntley, but they left Baker Mayfield for dead, dumping him to the Carolina Panthers, where Mayfield floundered. But once he was rebuilt in the Los Angeles Rams’ system and got a chance with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we’re seeing the Mayfield Reinassaince. In 19 games as a Buc, he has 33 TDs to 11 INT and an 11-8 record. And yes, Mayfield got into the Pro Bowl last season.
Sam Darnold is the latest QB to go through this process, with a 2-0 record as the starter of the Minnesota Vikings after busting with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before getting rebuilt with the San Francisco 49ers. Is Darnold, strictly speaking, “Good”? I don’t know. Probably not. But in the right spot? He’s just fine, and maybe even good enough to make the playoffs.
Now, Huntley isn’t those guys, not a one-to-one comparable. We’re talking about a No. 1 overall pick (Mayfield), a No. 3 overall (Darnold), and a second-rounder (Smith). Those players have more natural talent than Huntley. But in Huntley’s favor, he also never needed to be rebuilt, and has spent his career in Baltimore’s system. Even in the preseason with Cleveland, he got to study under Ken Dorsey, who helmed Josh Allen’s explosive offense with the Buffalo Bills.
But here’s where they are similar: Like those three names before him, Huntley is stepping into the right situation at the right time. As Smith had Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, Mayfield inherited Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and Darnold is getting Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Huntley has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal.
Throwing to Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers probably wasn’t bad, but now Huntley has Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out wide, De’Von Achane as an option out of the backfield, and Jonnu Smith patrolling the middle of the field. And, oh yeah, he has the best offensive schemer in Mike McDaniel dedicating his energy to finding a way to make Huntley work in his system.
We don’t know if it will work, and we don’t know how long it will have to work. But however long Huntley has to keep the ship afloat in Miami, McDaniel and the players surrounding him give the Dolphins a fighting chance.
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