Brandon

Doughty

“He’s made a lot of strides since he’s been here,” said head coach Adam Gase. “When I look at a lot of our film over the last three weeks before this week, even when he was wrong with where he was going, somehow he’d complete the football.” Miami recently cut Logan Thomas, elevating Doughty to third on the team’s QB depth chart. The Dolphins rarely keep more than two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, but they could make an exception if Doughty has a strong showing at training camp.

The Dolphins have not traditionally kept three quarterbacks, but new coach Adam Gase could be convinced to keep the promising rookie behind starter Ryan Tannehill and backup Matt Moore. “He’d get hit, he’d bounce back up, look right at me. I love that part of him and then his progressions were really good,” Gase said of Doughty’s performance in the first preseason game. “He was always in the right spot, which is good to see [because] it’s different in practice.” Gase also praised Doughty’s “anticipation.” If he can keep it up, Doughty could be playing himself onto the roster.

The seventh-round rookie out of Western Kentucky made the initial 53-man roster but last just one week. Matt Moore remains Ryan Tannehill’s backup, and Doughty’s spot was needed to re-sign DT Chris Jones.

Doughty lit up Conference USA for Western Kentucky the past two seasons, but lacks NFL arm strength and athleticism. He was a “system” quarterback for the Hilltoppers, and probably has a Kellen Moore-type ceiling in the big leagues.

Doughty (6'3/213) started three seasons at Western Kentucky, wrapping his career with a 68.6% completion rate, 8.62 yards-per-attempt average, and 111:34 TD-to-INT ratio. He was voted Conference USA MVP as both a junior and senior. Doughty was a terrific lower-level college passer, but he is a classic system quarterback with sub-NFL arm strength and plodding athleticism. He’ll have to lean on his accuracy and smarts to work his way into a No. 2 role.