There are limited fantasy football replacement options for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but backup Skylar Thompson is the most obvious choice. A concussion knocked Tagovailoa out of Week 2’s loss against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. After a concussion-plagued 2022 season, Tagovailoa played in all 17 games in 2023. The latest head injury could possibly end Tagovailoa career and derail the 2024 season for the Dolphins.
Dolphins Backup QB Options
The Dolphins had only two quarterbacks on the roster in the first two games of the season, which seemed like a huge risk considering Tagovailoa injury history.
The Dolphins cut former backup Mike White at the end of the preseason after Thompson beat him out for the backup job. White spent the 2023 season as an emergency backup. The reason to cut White was all financial, and the Dolphins saved $3.5 million against the salary cap with his release. He latched on to the Buffalo Bills and he’s currently on their practice squad.
Skylar Thompson
The Dolphins took a flier on Thompson, a former star with Kansas State, as a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He started two regular season games as a rookie in 2022 when Tagovailoa was recovering from concussions. The Dolphins went 1-1 in his two starts.
When Tagovailoa was ruled out of the playoffs that season, Thompson started in the AFC Wild Cad Round. Even though the Bills were the 14-point favorite, Thompson kept the game close, and the Dolphins lost by only three points.
Since joining the Dolphins, Thompson completed 57.1% of his passes for 614 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Thompson was on the roster last season as a backup, but did not log any action behind a healthy Tagovailoa.
Thompson came off the bench and finished Week 2’s game against the Bills. He had decent numbers and completed 8-for-14 pass attempts for 80 yards. He protected the ball and did not throw any interceptions but was sacked once.
Tyler Huntley
Earlier this week, the Dolphins signed Tyler Huntley, who began the season as a practice squad player for the Baltimore Ravens. Huntley is currently listed as the backup quarterback behind Thompson.
Huntley spent four seasons as Lamar Jackson’s backup with the Ravens. He has a 3-6 record as a starting quarterback when Jackson was sidelined with an injury or the Ravens rested Jackson in the last game of the season. Huntley completed 64.6% of his passes with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Huntley has better career numbers and more experience than Thompson, but it will take him some time to get acclimated to the team and learn the playbook. There’s a prevailing sentiment that head coach Mike McDaniel could promote Huntley as the starter as soon as he gets up to speed. This is all speculation but dependent of Thompson’s performance and the Dolphins record.
Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Tannehill began his career in Miami when the Dolphins selected him with the #8 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Tannehill spent seven seasons in South Beach before the Dolphins traded him to the Tennessee Titans in 2019. After five up and down seasons in Tennessee, the Titans did not extend his contract and he became a free agent.
Tannehill went unsigned in the offseason, and he’s the highest-profile quarterback that is not under contract. He was rumored to join the Green Bay Packers when Jordan Love sustained a knee injury in Week 1. The Packers stuck with backup Malik Willis who led them to victory in Week 2. The latest batch of NFL rumors suggest that Tannehill could return to the Dolphins as a replacement for Tagovailoa if he’s on the IR for an extended stint or decides to retire.
Other Tagovailoa Fantasy Replacement Options
If you selected Tagovailoa in your fantasy football draft, then you’re well aware that you were gambling on his health. If you need another quarterback, there were a few worthy options off the waiver wire but you needed to act quickly before they were gobbled up.
- Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Bucs) and Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints) might not have been drafted in your league, but they’re ranked #1 and #2 respectively on ESPN right now. Mayfield was probably picked up after Week 1 and Carr was a popular waiver wire pickup in Week 2. They’re tied for the NFL lead with five touchdowns each.
- Geno Smith (Seattle Seahawks) and Sam Darnold (Minnesota Vikings) are currently ranked in the Top 10 in fantasy quarterbacks according to ESPN. Smith is ranked #9 and Darnold is #10. They are tied for fourth overall in ESPN’s QBR metric. Darnold is also ranked #5 in the league with an overall QB rating of 111.8.
- Gardner Minshew (Las Vegas Raiders) is ranked #21 according to ESPN. Although passing is down across the board early this season, Minshew is ranked third in the NFL with 533 passing yards and he’s the only quarterback to pass over 250-plus yards in both games. Minshew also leads the NFL with 77.5% completion rate.
- Justin Fields (Pittsburgh Steelers) was named the starting quarterback by head coach Mike Tomlin. Fields is ranked #22 overall at ESPN, but he’s ahead of noteworthy gunslingers like Justin Herbet and Matthew Stafford.
Tagovailoa Injury Betting Impact
The Dolphins went 11-6 last season and finished in second place in the AFC East. They were eliminated from the playoffs in the Wild Card Round by the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Dolphins are currently 1-1. Oddsmakers installed their 2024 win totals at 9.5 over/under. In the preseason, the Dolphins were +2200 odds to win Super Bowl 59. After Tagovailoa’s concussion, the Dolphins saw their Super Bowl odds drop to +4000 last weekend. Their odds continued to fall to +5000 at DraftKings Sportsbook when they designated Tagovailoa to the IR.
On the lookahead betting line at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, the Dolphins with Tagovailoa were projected as a -1.5 favorite on the road against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3. Without Tagovailoa, several other sportsbooks opened their Week 3 lines with the Dolphins as a +6 underdog.
