The Dolphins’ quarterback picture behind Malik Willis is starting to look a lot less settled than it did a few weeks ago.
For much of the offseason, a chunk of Miami fans believed Quinn Ewers was lined up to take over as the team’s starter in 2026. Former Dolphin Darren Waller even suggested that was the plan Mike McDaniel would have followed if he had kept his job. But once free agency opened, Miami’s new decision-makers moved quickly to Malik Willis on a sizable contract, and that ended any real expectation that Ewers would be the guy.
That left Ewers looking like the clear backup option, with Las Vegas Raiders castoff Cam Miller and undrafted free agent Mark Gronowski behind him. But through the first five practices of training camp, Ewers has been shaky, and practice No. 5 may have been his roughest yet.
According to Dolphins pressman Travis Wingfield, Ewers’ two-minute work opened with trouble right away: "Ojabo has pressure on Ewers' first play of two-minute [drill], ball gets tipped by Major Burns and Ethan Bonner sprints his butt off to the ball and is rewarded with the pick." Ojabo then reportedly sacked Ewers on the next snap.
The next rep didn’t clean things up much. Wingfield wrote: "Marco Wilson feels an in-breaker coming by Tutu [Atwell] from Quinn [Ewers] and jumps it, nearly picks it off."
That sequence also ended with a sack, this one shared by EDGE rusher Cameron Goode and defensive tackle Zeek Biggers. Wingfield summed it up as "Dominant defense in that two-minute period."
If Ewers keeps putting days like that on tape, Miami may have to start looking outside the building for another quarterback. His rookie production came under a different regime, and that matters here. He was a seventh-round pick in 2025, so the investment is small enough that he’s not locked into anything.
There are options out there. Joshua Dobbs is available after spending 2025 as Drake Maye’s backup with the New England Patriots.
Jimmy Garoppolo is another name to watch after recent reports said he had interest in playing in 2026 despite retirement rumors earlier in the offseason. Other possibilities include former Packers quarterbacks Desmond Ridder and Clayton Tune, along with Jeff Driskel, who has 25 games of veteran experience.
Whether any of those names would actually be an upgrade over Ewers right now is another question. But the point is clear: Ewers is not safely planted in the backup role just because that’s how it looked a few weeks ago.
He’s competing for his place under a new coaching staff, and the path from presumed backup to being moved out entirely is suddenly not hard to imagine. If the early camp issues don’t turn around soon, the Dolphins have enough proven arms sitting around to make this situation very real.
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