Dolphins Quarterback Draft History: The Hits, Misses and Trends

The Miami Dolphins have selected 30 quarterbacks in their history, from Bob Griese to Skylar Thompson

Tua Tagovailoa | Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

As we head into the homestretch to the 2025 NFL draft, it's a good time to revisit the Miami Dolphins draft history at every position.

In this draft series, we'll break down each position with number of picks since the start of the "common draft" in 1967, first-round selections, hits and misses, and any trends that might apply.

We start with the quarterback position:

DOLPHINS QUARTERBACK DRAFT HISTORY

Number of picks: 30

Last five picks: Skylar Thompson, Round 7, 2022; Tua Tagovailoa, Round 1, 2020; Brandon Doughty, Round 7, 2016; Ryan Tannehill, Round 1, 2012; Pat White, Round 2, 2009

Number of first-round picks: 4 (Bob Griese, 1967; Dan Marino, 1983; Ryan Tannehill; Tua Tagovailoa)

Hits: Griese, Don Strock (Round 5, 1973), Marino

Misses: Guy Benjamin (Round 2, 1978), John Beck (Round 2, 2007), Pat White (Round 2, 2009), Tannehill

Trends: The Dolphins haven't bothered drafting quarterbacks very often as a franchise, though that was more understandable when they had Griese or Marino running the offense. But they clearly took the approach over the past decade or so to stick with the quarterback they draft early, with Tannehill and Tagovailoa. In the 24 drafts since the start of the new millennium, the Dolphins have drafted only eight quarterbacks and only three after the second round (Josh Heupel in Round 6 in 2001, Doughty and Thompson). What sticks out here, as it applies to the 2025 draft, is the Dolphins haven't selected a quarterback outside of Round 1 or 7 since 2009.

HOW THE DOLPHINS HAVE DONE DRAFTING QUARTERBACKS

The Dolphins got off to a great start as a franchise when it comes to drafting quarterbacks because Griese and Marino took care of the quarterback position for about 30 years and both of them ended up in the Hall of Fame.

And there probably would be a lot of debate about how good of a pick Tagovailoa was at number 5 in 2020 — we didn't include him either in the "hits" or "misses" category because he's been way too productive to be considered close to a miss but also has been unavailable too often and failed to produce too often against high-end opponents to be considered a hit as that high of a pick.

What can't be debate is the Dolphins' performance with QB draft picks between Marino and Tagovailoa.

Tannehill was a serviceable starter for the Dolphins, but he certainly never looked like a franchise quarterback and that's what any team should expect from an eighth overall pick. And then the problem was compounded by the Dolphins never drafting anybody to provide competition.

And, yes, we called Tannehill a draft miss because his production for the Dolphins was nowhere near the value of an eighth overall pick. His career resurgency with the Tennessee Titans after he was traded during the 2019 offseason doesn’t make the pick any better from a Miami standpoint.

Sticking with Tannehill too long was almost as bad as spending a second-round pick on a quarterback three consecutive years from 2007-09 and five in a six-year span if we include the 2004 and 2005 trades for A.J. Feeley and Daunte Culpepper, respectively.