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Upon Further Review: Takeaways From Quinn Ewers First Start

The Miami Dolphins started Quinn Ewers against the Bengals, and there are plenty of good and bad plays to break down.
Dante Collinelli|
Miami Dolphins quarterback Quinn Ewers (14) runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Quinn Ewers (14) runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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The Miami Dolphins got blown out by the Cincinnati Bengals at home Sunday, dropping to 6-9 in an already lost season. However, there is still the future to think about. 

To that end, Sunday was Quinn Ewers' first start after the team benched Tua Tagovailoa this week. Ewers got off to a strong start in the first half, but like the rest of the team, completely collapsed in the third quarter.  

Anyone with a box score could tell you that, though. What does the film say about the rookie’s first start? Well, let’s dive in and find out because this week’s film review is all about Ewers. 

What Quinn Ewers Did Well in First Dolphins Start 

One word Mike McDaniel used all week when talking about what he needed from Ewers was “conviction.” While that may seem like coachspeak — and it is — there’s also some merit behind that. 

McDaniel wanted a quarterback who was going to see it and rip it — Tua had become too hesitant. Well, Ewers had a couple of nice rips Sunday. 

This corner route is an excellent example. Tua had strayed away from firing out-breaking routes with anticipation, and you can see Ewers throw this ball well before Jaylen Waddle gets out of his break. 

He read the leverage of the cornerback and trusted his eyes to generate an easy completion. 

With Ewers in the lineup, some of Miami’s patented in-breakers returned to the offense as well. Ewers had a couple of nice completions to Waddle and Darren Waller early in the game, but this throw to Theo Wease Jr. was probably his best. 

Watch Ewers’ head on this play. He’s looking at Waller, who is running the sit route, while Wease is running the in-breaker behind it. Without even looking at Wease, Ewers rips a perfect pass of the middle for a completion. 

He needed to no-look throw this to pull the sitting linebacker out of the throwing window. People tend to overreact to no-look passes; they happen more often than you think, but they absolutely take “conviction” and confidence. Ewers has both, and it leads to excellent plays like this one. 

The other thing that stood out about Ewers was his touch. I hate this cliche, but he throws an incredibly catchable ball. 

The play-action fake on this play takes Ewers to the far hash, and he’s throwing a deep corner route to Waddle near the other sideline. Watch Ewers lay this ball out for Waddle, settling him down and making it an easy catch. 

This is another example of him throwing with anticipation as well. Ewers lets this go before Waddle is out of the break, making the receiver’s job much easier. 

Where Quinn Ewers Can Improve for Dolphins 

Of course, it wasn’t all positive for Ewers in his first start. While “conviction” can lead to some positive plays, there’s such a thing as too much conviction. Ewers threw two interceptions in this game, and he probably should have thrown a third. 

Ewers tries to throw with conviction, but he’s attempting to fit a window that doesn’t exist. The Bengals LB drops the ball, but throws with confidence just for the sake of it is not a sustainable way to play quarterback. 

This play from early in the game is another example. The outcome works out, but Ewers’ process on this play is rough. The Dolphins are running a smash concept with a short in-cut from Dee Eskridge and Waller running the corner. 

The Bengals show two-high before the snap and rotate post-snap to replace the backside cornerback who blitzes, but it’s still two-high post-snap. 

Ewers drops back and looks to Waller running the deep corner. The second he sees the safeties’ leverage, he needs to come off this throw; it’s not open. Instead, he hands with it and pumps before creating his own pressure and throwing up a prayer. 

Waller makes the catch, but Ewers’ process isn’t good. If it’s a high-to-low read, then he needs to progress to Eskridge way quicker. If it’s a low-to-high read, then he shouldn’t have even gotten to Waller. 

This is a classic rookie mistake, but Ewers won’t get bailed out like this consistently. 

The other major negative that popped up was Ewers’ ability to drive the ball downfield. He had a few deeper passes that required a little bit of zip on them, and they just floated. 

The throw above to Waddle needed to be on a line and toward the sideline. Ewers threw a floater upfield instead. He had a similar issue on a deep crosser to Waddle and the INT that he threw to Waddle down the right sideline. His accuracy on these throws is just brutal. Waddle is about as open as it gets in this clip.

Ewers does not have a strong arm. He can float the ball with good touch, but throwing into tight, heavily contested windows is just not something he’ll ever excel at. 

Much like Tua, Ewers will only thrive in an offense that consistently schemes players open. 

Bottom Line on Ewers’ First Start 

So, what does all of this tell us? Given that he’s a seventh-round rookie making his first start, my expectations for Ewers were fairly low. I wanted to see if he looked like he belonged at the NFL level. 

The moment looked a little too big for him during his brief appearance against the Cleveland Browns earlier this season, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. Ewers gave the Dolphins baseline backup quarterback play — nothing more and nothing less. 

I would consider that a win, given that most seventh-round picks at quarterback do not become long-term backups. Ewers’ limitations and strengths are wildly similar to Tua’s, but what separates him right now is just confidence. 

He’s not afraid to make mistakes, so he will throw into covered windows early and give players like Waller a chance to make a contested catch. That part of Tua’s game had mostly eroded this season. 

Ewers will likely get two more starts this season, so he’s got an opportunity to prove he’s more than a viable developmental backup. The biggest thing I’ll be looking for is whether McDaniel trusts Ewers more without play-action. 

Ewers had 18 dropbacks without play-action against the Bengals. On those, he completed just 47% of his passes for 87 yards and threw both of his INTs. 

When I talked about Ewers needing super clean reads and the offense to scheme open players consistently, that’s what I was getting at. To me, that’s what largely separates starters and backups. 

It was Ewers’ first start, so I’m not really holding it against him, per se. It’s just that a 42% play-action percentage is not a sustainable way to play football, so I want to see that drop during the next two games. For reference, the Los Angeles Rams lead the NFL with a 21% play-action rate. 

If Ewers shows some real juice on more traditional drop-back concepts, perhaps there’s more ceiling to his game. If not, there’s nothing wrong with him being a good QB2.

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Dante Collinelli
DANTE COLLINELLI

Dante currently serves as the deputy editor of Dolphins on SI, where he’s been contributing since 2022. He began his career covering the NFL Draft for Blue Chip Scouting and spent four years covering the Temple University Football team. For the past three years, Dante served as the Deputy Editor for The 33rd Team, working with former players, coaches, and general managers, while building a team of NFL writers.

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