Miami Dolphins' three-man quarterback race is "very close"
Rookie Ryan Tannehill is competing with Matt Moore and David Garrard for the Miami Dolphins' quarterback job. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
The Miami Dolphins quarterback competition between reigning team MVP Matt Moore, veteran David Garrard and first-round pick Ryan Tannehill is still unresolved, coach Joe Philbin said in an interview with Joe Rose of WQAM, according to a report by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.
“I think it’s very close,” Philbin told Rose. “I think it’s very close. I think they all bring different attributes to the table. I will say that the room itself, the quality of the individuals in the room, I think is excellent.
"I mean, as you know Matt came in here [and] was voted as the [team's] Most Valuable Player, really played well down the stretch, and he’s picked up the [new] offense very well.
"David Garrard, when you look at his last season that he was active, obviously he didn’t play last year, he played very well in 2010. And he’s been working his tail off.
"And then we’ve got a young guy (Tannehill) that has some familiarity with the offense but not a lot of familiarity with the NFL game. But he’s holding his own, very much so. So it’s been a good competition so far.”
Moore started 12 games for the Dolphins last season, going 6-6. He completed 60.5 percent of his passes and threw 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions.
In nine seasons, Garrard has thrown 89 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. In 2010, his last season as a starter, he led the Jaguars to an 8-6 record in his 14 starts.
Tannehill, the strong-armed rookie, knows the offense because Mike Sherman, his coach at Texas A&M, is now Miami's offensive coordinator.
