What if.......?

The Dolphins have now won two games, both over dreadful teams. Wow. Whoopee. There is a decent chance they can even win a few more before this forgettable 2011-2012 season is completed. I never subscribed to the now defunct "suck-for-Luck" campaign, so more wins are certainly desirable. But what will this "hot streak" do to the future search for a QB? Believe it or not, there are other teams that are in even worse QB straits than the Dolphins. We just had a firsthand look at the Redskin dilemma, faced with the terrible choice of Rex Grossman or John Beck. The Colts are dying without Peyton Manning. Arizona has been disappointed with Kevin Kolb. Seattle's QB situation is muddled. Jacksonville is uncertain about Blaine Gabbert. And others. What if the Dolphins end up with a first round pick at the 8-10 slot or later? This could be after the top college QB's are already gone.

The three top QB prospects this year are Andrew Luck, Landry Jones, and Matt Barley. Andrew Luck will likely be the first pick in the draft, especially if the Colts possess it. I imagine Landry Jones will be taken by a QB-starved team very soon afterward. It is uncertain when Matt Barley will be taken but it is not unlikely he could be gone before the Dolphins get a chance to select. The Dolphins have other crying needs, such as tight end, offensive line, defensive line, and secondary. Should the Dolphins do what they've done in the past and "make do" with what they've got at QB instead of choosing a lesser prospect? Absolutely not. Andy Dalton (Bengals) and Christian Ponder (Vikings) were lesser QB prospects last year and have shown great NFL promise so far. Historically, Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft choice, Kurt Warner went undrafted, Joe Theisman bounced around for years (including a stint with the Dolphins) before achieving stardom with the Redskins, and the great Johnny Unitas was a free agent after being cut early in his career. The process can be a crapshoot. But the Dolphins have let QB problems fester for way too long. A QB must be taken early in the 2012 draft. No question about it. It's time to "spin the wheel" if need be. The Carolina Panthers are still a terrible team but their organization is wearing a collective big smile, knowing that they will have a star QB for the next decade. I would not be averse to the Dolphins choosing two QB's in the upcoming draft. Why not? They've chosen two (or more) linemen in recent drafts. Is QB a less important position than lineman? Bill Parcells may think so but nobody else active in the 21st century feels this way.

Don't even dream about signing a free-agent QB as a long-term solution. There are so few truly talented individuals at that position that no sane NFL team in their collective right minds would ever let a good one get away for free (or cheaply).