David Garrard Named the Miami Dolphins Starting QB – For Now

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Some NFL teams released their depth charts on Monday putting to rest where some of the more intriguing position battles are after the first week of training camp. Of all the battles ongoing around the league there are few that are being watched as closely as the QB situation in Miami.

So far it appears that the edge is going to former Jacksonville Jaguars starting QB David Garrard--for now. First year head coach Joe Philbin has made it clear that the depth chart is 'fluid' and that Garrard is not even guaranteed to start the team's first preseason game on Friday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Matt Moore was thought to have the edge going into camp after starting 12 games for the Dolphins last season. His stats were not overly impressive, but over the last nine weeks of the season he did lead the team to a 6-3 record while earning a 97.8 QB rating. Moore's play was erratic at times. In those nine games his rating ranged from 61.3 to 147.5.

Garrard sat last season after being cut late in the preseason by the Jaguars and then had back surgery. So far the word on the veteran QBs is that Garrard has simply outplayed Moore. Both players may want to look out for rookie Ryan Tannehill.

During the team's scrimmage on Saturday Tannehill was the only QB to lead the offense into the end zone. According to reports, players and coaches alike were impressed with his presence in the pocket and his decision making under fire. Philbin was pleased with what he saw from his rookie QB:

He showed good poise. It doesn't look too big for him here in the stadium and with coaches on the side and plays coming down from the coordinators upstairs and through that whole communication process. I was yelling on the touchdown pass, `Run, run, run,' and then he threw a touchdown.

No team likes to start a rookie if they don't have to, but the Dolphins could be in an ideal position to do so. Normally a rookie QB would need time to get to know his new offensive coordinator and vice versa. In this case the offensive coordinator is his former college head coach, Mike Sherman.

With Tannehill the QB of the future after being picked No. 8 overall, should he continue to improve and impress as the preseason progresses, it would be hard to imagine him not opening the season at QB for the 'Fins.

(Here's the video of Tannehill leading the offense into the endzone.)