Chris Perkins: Dolphins QB Quinn Ewers ended 2025 as starter, but begins 2026 as backup

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - There won't be a starting quarterback competition at Miami Dolphins training camp this year, although one of the tentpoles of the rebuild is competition.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers, the Dolphins' 2025 seventh-round pick whose three starts as a rookie raised the possibility of battling for the starting job in 2026, knows the deal as well as the rest of us.

Malik Willis is the Dolphins' starting quarterback. Period. Willis signed a three-year, $67.5 million contract as the hand-picked choice of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley to be the face of the rebuild.

If Willis falters, Ewers, who opened the 2025 season as the No. 3 quarterback behind backup Zach Wilson, likely gets first shot at being his replacement in 2026. At the same time, if Willis falters, you can almost be assured the Dolphins will bring in starting quarterback competition in 2027 through the draft, free agency or both.

"Right now, I'm not too worried about all that," Ewers said after Tuesday's minicamp practice. "I'm just trying to stay ready and continue to improve my game, continue improving in my role, and continue to hone in on all the details."

Sullivan and Hafley are staking much of the rebuild on Willis' rocket right arm, blazing fast legs and playmaking feet. They wouldn't have brought Willis here from Green Bay, where they saw him firsthand for two seasons, if they didn't think he had the right stuff.

Ewers, who took over late last season after franchise glamour boy Tua Tagovailoa faltered and the team lost faith in Wilson, will have to battle Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski for the backup job this year.

So far, he's progressing fairly well.

"Quinn's done a nice job," Hafley said. "He's got familiarity with some of the scheme, and I think he's gotten better. He's made some really good throws. He's learning the offense, and I'm really pleased with where he's at right now."

Fans might be happy to know Ewers, the 6-foot-2, 209-pounder, is still slinging those no-look passes that earned him a measure of fame last season.

"He's smart," Hafley said. "Just standing back there from a defensive perspective, he knows where to go with the football. He gets rid of it on time. He sees the defenses really well. There's some times when he'll hide his eyes really well. A lot of quarterbacks like to start down the middle of the field early in the down, usually when they hit their back foot. They got to kind of get into their progression, which you guys, if you watch, you'll see. But he'll hide it for a long time."

Then Hafley, a former defensive coach, showed his sense of humor.

"I mean, he'll even throw some no-look passes where I'll go up to him and be like, ‘If there's a rush, buddy, that ain't happening,' " Hafley deadpanned.

Despite the relative success, the road to becoming a starter won't get any easier for Ewers.

Sullivan and Hafley said ideally they'd like to draft a quarterback every year. It didn't happen this year. Therefore, you'd think it's almost guaranteed to happen next year.

Last season, Ewers was 55 of 83 (66.3%) for three touchdowns and three interceptions with an 85.5 passer rating. He was sacked eight times and had eight carries for 19 yards. He made three starts (Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, New England) and four appearances, posting a 1-2 record as a starter.

He continued showing promise into the offseason. Some observers believe Ewers had the best passing day of any quarterback in last week's organized team activities.

The bottom line, however, is that he hasn't been overall better than Willis. But whatever.

Ewers has been through this starting/backup quarterback thing previously.

When he attended Ohio State as a five-star recruit from Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School, he was behind highly touted quarterbacks C.J. Stroud and Kyle McCord.

When he transferred to Texas and became the starter, he was constantly in a fan/social media-driven battle to stave off backup quarterback Arch Manning.

Last season when Ewers was a rookie backup to the franchise leader, Tagovailoa, there was no competition. Wilson was No. 2, and Ewers was No. 3. And this year, as a young backup to the unproven Willis, there's no competition.

But the thing to consider is that Willis, a first-year starter and four-year veteran, isn't a sure thing. He's got a 3-3 career record. In four seasons, he's 105-for-155 passing (67.7%) for 1,322 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions and a 98.9 passer rating.

At this point in his young career, Ewers has one huge thing in his favor - San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy, the 2022 seventh-round pick who was the starting quarterback for the 49ers' 2024 season Super Bowl appearance.

Theoretically, if Purdy can do it, Ewers can do it.

In reality, however, a seventh-round pick is an afterthought, a whim. And Purdy is a huge exception. Not many teams would move forward with a seventh-round pick as their starting quarterback.

Perhaps some day we'll see if the Dolphins fall into that category.

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 2:35 AM.