Gase wants 3 QBs on season roster
DAVIE — The Miami Dolphins could be running out of chairs in the team’s quarterback meeting room following this weekend’s transactions.
Not only did the Dolphins keep Brock Osweiler and David Fales to serve as Ryan Tannehill’s backups, but Miami claimed Luke Falk off the waiver wire on Sunday, adding the Tennessee Titans’ 2018 sixth-round pick to that position group.
Head coach Adam Gase pointed out that for months he dropped numerous hints that the Dolphins could be keeping three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.
And don’t expect that to change anytime soon because Gase, who has a reputation as a quarterback developer in the NFL, said he plans to keep three quarterbacks for the entire season.
“At the end of the day, you talk about that being one of the most important positions in professional football,” said Gase, whose team has carried three quarterbacks on his 53-man roster for the previous two seasons, but that had previously been a byproduct of injuries. “Our thought process is we’re going to try to develop guys and get them ready to go, and if we have a situation where we need the next guy to get up we want to make sure we have the right guy.”
The strategic move to keep more than two quarterbacks contrasts the trend of what most NFL teams have been doing for the past couple of seasons. But considering how many injuries Miami has had to endure at that position during Gase’s tenure — Tannehill has missed the past 20 regular-season games because of a knee injury, and Jay Cutler and Matt Moore both missed games last season because of injuries — the approach does make sense.
Osweiler and Fales are both 27, so there’s still room for growth and development. And what Gase likes is that both quarterbacks intimately know his offense from their time with him playing for other franchises.
Osweiler has started 25 games during his career, which began in Denver as Peyton Manning’s backup. Fales bounced around the NFL for a couple of seasons before finding a home in Miami last October when Cutler injured his ribs.
Gase wasn’t ready to say which quarterback would serve as Tannehill’s primary backup, being active on game-day in the Sept. 9 season-opener against the Tennessee Titans. He classified that as an “either-or” situation at this time.
As for Falk, he led Washington State to a 28-15 record, completing 68.3 percent of his passes in a spread offense. He passed for 14,481 yards and threw 119 touchdowns during his collegiate career.
The rookie is coming from Miami’s Week 1 opponent, so Falk should have intimate knowledge about the Titans offense, which should help the Dolphins prepare for Sunday’s game.
The Titans didn’t keep Falk on their 53-man roster because they have Marcus Mariota as the team’s starter and veteran Blaine Gabbert as his backup.
How long Miami keeps four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster will probably depend on how Falk performs and how quickly he learns the offense. It’s possible that the Dolphins could carry Falk on the 53-man roster for the first week or so and eventually move him to its practice squad if he clears waivers.