Skylar Thompson’s NFL debut was pretty underwhelming when it comes to his statistics, but a more thorough and nuanced look at his performance suggests he actually did pretty well in his first regular season appearance for the Miami Dolphins.
Thompson was put in a tough spot when he had to come in to start the Dolphins’ second offensive possession after Teddy Bridgewater was pulled out of the game — because of the new concussion emphasis related to ataxia — after the first drive ended in a safety when he was called for intentional grounding while absorbing a hit from Jets rookie cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.
And this, of course, came one week after Thompson was active in a game for the first time when he served as the third quarterback in uniform for the Thursday night game against Cincinnati.
So, yes, look past Thompson’s line of 19 completions in 33 attempts (57.6 percent) for 166 yards with no touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 58.4.
But then factor in that Thompson was sabotaged by four dropped passes, including the crucial drop by rookie tight end Tanner Conner on the fourth-quarter drive that ended with Jason Sanders’ missed 54-yard field goal attempt. For those keeping track, running back Chase Edmonds had two of the other drops and Cedrick Wilson Jr. had another (although that last one came after the outcome had been decided).
Oh, and the one pick came when Thompson’s arm was hit by defensive end John Franklin-Myers as he was throwing an outside pass to River Cracraft and the result was a floater that made it easy for Gardner (him again) to step in front of the throw for the pick.
So if you’re going to focus on the stats, keep those factors in mind because Thompson’s stat line could have looked a lot worse.
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THOMPSON LOOKED LIKE HE BELONGED
The best compliment we can pay Thompson in this game is that he didn’t look out of place, which, yes, means something when we’re talking about a rookie who didn’t get a lot of reps in practice coming into the week , and there weren’t throws that left you scratching your head.
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Thompson also deserves kudos for taking shots down the field. Yes, he underthrew Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on those attempts, but those three deep shots still resulted in DPI calls against the Jets, giving the Dolphins a combined 95 yards.
Beyond all of this, we should also mention that Thompson was operating behind an offensive line missing its two starting tackles, one of whom is a three-time Pro Bowl selection who is the anchor of that line and whose absence created pass protection problems.
Yes, there were times when Thompson was too slow to make decisions in the pocket, the most notable example coming when he was strip-sacked by Carl Lawson to set up the touchdown that made it 33-17.
So, no, we’re not suggesting Thompson played a perfect game. And we’re certainly not suggesting the offense functioned the same way it would have with Tua Tagovailoa in the lineup or if Bridgewater hadn’t been forced to leave the game after one snap.
But how different would the conversation about Thompson be had, say, Conner did not drop that pass when the Dolphins trailed 19-17 and were looking at getting a first down around the Jets 30-yard line instead of New York taking the ball over at their 44 with that same score after Sanders’ miss?
McDANIEL’S TAKE ON THOMPSON’S DEBUT
If fans were disappointed that Thompson didn’t light it up the way he did in the preseason when his passer rating was a remarkable 138.4, well, this wasn’t the preseason.
The reality is that Thompson’s performance, while far from perfect, was more than respectable.
And the bottom line is that the Dolphins had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.
“Being a backup quarterback in this league is not easy,” head coach Mike McDaniel said. “And what people don’t understand is you have a finite amount of reps during the week because you can’t deplete your athletes and you can’t have endless amount of reps. So typically, starters get anywhere from 80 to 100 percent of the practice reps. So a backup quarterback, especially a rookie, is a tremendous challenge because you have to own the whole game plan, visualize it, be able to call it, be able to line people up and then execute appropriately.
‘I think he was way on top of the game plan in a way that I don’t think typically I’m used to rookies being on top of. I think he was also frustrated with his play but confident that he … it was more like a frustration in the moment like, ‘My feet are messed up, that wasn’t the right timing.’ Overall, it’s exactly what I thought it would be where I left the game knowing that the game is not too big for him and that was probably if he has any say in it, that was probably the worst that he will feel like he’ll perform as a professional. And that was good enough to (almost) win. So I was very happy with the player because it takes a lot of prep and it’s a big stage that everyone isn’t up for.”
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