How Quinn Ewers Has Impressed Jeff Hafley

The old saying goes that if a team has two quarterbacks, it doesn’t have any.

Then again, new Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley knows full well the value of having a good backup quarterback. His current starting quarterback, Malik Willis, spent the last two seasons being the best insurance policy in the NFL.

Could the Miami Dolphins be in a similar situation now with Quinn Ewers as he continues to grow in his second offseason as a professional?

That growth has some limitations. Quinn Ewers is not going to start for the Dolphins unless something happens to Willis during the season that requires him to miss some time.

Willis starting became a formality with the contract the Dolphins gave him this offseason, but there are plenty of good reasons to want another quality player at that position on the roster. Willis’ play style can lend itself to him taking more hits in the open field.

If that were to happen, Ewers does have some experience. He played in four games last year, starting three. He threw three touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 66 percent of his passes.

How Has Quinn Ewers Progressed?

Ewers has parlayed that into a solid spring that has caught the attention of his head coach.

“Yeah, I want Quinn continue to get better and battle and compete and do everything he can to show us that he's the best quarterback on the field," Hafley told Miami reporters before the minicamp practice Tuesday. "I want everybody at every position to do that. You know, Quinn's done a nice job, he's got familiarity with some of the scheme, you know, and I think he's gotten better, he's made some really good throws, he's learning the offense, and you know, I'm really pleased with where he's at right now.”

The position Ewers is in can be a tricky one. Willis is the presumed starter, and Hafley did not push back when a question was prefaced by mentioning Willis as the "presumptive starter."

Having a starter at a position like that solidified makes any backups spot tenable. Furthermore, the Dolphins are under new leadership with Jon-Eric Sullivan and Hafley at the controls. Neither one of those men were here when Ewers was drafted a season ago.

As a result, Ewers had to get better from last offseason to this year if he wanted to be Willis’ backup. That position puts him one heartbeat away from being on the field as well, which is a benefit to Willis.

Where specifically has he grown, and what did he do to catch the eye of the coaching staff?

"Yeah, he's smart, just standing back there from a defensive perspective," Hafley said. "He knows to go, he knows where to go with the football. He gets rid of it on time. He sees the defenses really well."

There are still moments where Ewers shows some of the promise that made him a highly coveted recruit in college, which includes manipulating the defense.

“There's some times when he'll hide his eyes really well," Hafley said. "A lot of quarterbacks like to start down the middle of the field, early in the down, usually when they hit their back foot, they got to kind of get into their progression. Once you guys, if you watch, you'll see, but he'll hide it for a long time."

Ewers and Others Still Have More To Learn

Of course, there are still some things to learn as this is still the offseason with no pads or pass rushers chasing quarterbacks.

“He'll even throw some no-look passes, where I'll go up to him, be like, 'If there's a rush, buddy, that ain't happening. You know what I mean?' " Hafley said. "Like, he'll be looking over here and give one of these, and so I've had to tell him a couple times not to get too bored, because the rush will be coming after him soon, and I'll make sure if a quarterback is going to give us no-looking, no looks, that he'll get hit from the other side fairly quickly, but I really have been pleased with him. He's, he's really grasped everything well. He sees it well, he processes really quickly, and I think he's improved, and I like being around.”

Improvement and making a good impression on the coaching staff is an excellent step for Ewers. He’s not going to start, but maybe he could find himself growing into a role that Malik Willis was in during his time in Green Bay.

That may lead to opportunities elsewhere, but for the immediate future, having two quarterbacks a team can trust is never going to be something the coaching staff is going to complain about.

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