When the Miami Dolphins released their first depth chart of the season ahead of a preseason debut against the Atlanta Falcons, coaches gave Mike White the nod over Skylar Thompson as the second-team quarterback
But head coach Mike McDaniel made sure to clarify Wednesday that the battle for the backup job is far from over.
“I see that as it’s neck and neck, and far from me even thinking about who’s going to win that job, and I think that’s a compliment just because they’re both developing very well,” McDaniel said.
So the question is how the Dolphins will divide reps in the preseason. Presumably, White will be in the game first against the Falcons, but it’s not exactly an even competition if Thompson’s reps come with wide receivers and offensive linemen further down the depth chart.
“How do you make the opportunities as equal as possible?” McDaniel said. “Well, for me, I try to create a scenario where they get to work with the same players that are blocking and the same players that are receiving routes or getting handoffs. That’s a little tricky because there’s a lot of position battles that that need to be settled outside the quarterback position.”
Both White and Thompson made the roster in 2023, but the latter was an emergency third quarterback for each game last season. With Tua Tagovailoa playing in all 17 games for the first time in his career, White appeared in only a handful games and threw just six passes.
Thompson, a seventh-round pick in 2022, played in seven regular season games and a playoff game during his rookie season with Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater dealing with injuries.
