A year ago, Quinn Ewers was viewed as a potential future quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.
Instead, they signed Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract this offseason.
Although Ewers is unlikely to be the Dolphins' starting quarterback when the 2026 season begins, he has impressed the coaching staff throughout the offseason.
“I think the quarterback room in particular has really grown,” Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said. “There are some things we do that's the same, and there's some things that we're going to do that are different.
“Then there's some things that we did last year that we'll just like talk about and coach differently, and I think that's harder than people realize when you have all these ingrained reps at this one thing, and then we're going to do the same thing, but a little different. I would ask he does the same thing as we keep going through camp. Play disciplined, stick to the fundamentals as often as we can and then react to what you see, and a lot of times when he just goes and he plays and he reacts, he does some really cool stuff.”
Quinn Ewers has NFL tools, success
Miami selected Ewers in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft as a developmental project behind Tua Tagovailoa. After Tagovailoa was benched, Ewers started the final three games of the 2025 season, completing 66.7% of his passes for 569 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Despite the Dolphins' commitment to Willis, there are still questions surrounding him. He has made just six career starts since the Titans drafted him in 2022. That includes last season when he started one game for the Packers after Jordan Love entered the concussion protocol. Willis threw for 288 yards and accounted for three touchdowns — one passing and two rushing — in a loss to the Ravens.
General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley handpicked Willis to be their starting quarterback for at least the next couple of seasons. But the door isn't completely closed on Ewers earning the job during training camp.
At Texas, Ewers routinely displayed solid mechanics and a quick release in the pocket. He also showed the anticipation and timing to throw his receivers open.
Ewers still needs to become more comfortable playing under center, something he rarely did in college. He also had an extensive injury history at Texas, which was one of the reasons he slipped to the seventh round.
It's Willis' job to lose entering training camp. But Ewers has the deep-ball accuracy and mechanics to push for an opportunity if Willis falters.
“I want Quinn to continue to get better and battle and compete and do everything he can to show us that he's the best quarterback on the field,” Hafley said. “I want everybody at every position to do that.
“Quinn's done a nice job. 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.”
