MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tyler “Snoop” Huntley's new Miami Dolphins teammates and coaches had their eyes on him before he signed with the team.
Coach Mike McDaniel noticed how Huntley's former Ravens teammates rallied behind him in 2022 when he helped guide Baltimore to the playoffs in place of Lamar Jackson.
Receiver Tyreek Hill was impressed with his running abilities. Quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell noted Huntley's underrated passing skills.
It all helped inform the Dolphins' decision to turn to Huntley as their starting quarterback Monday night against the Tennessee Titans.
“We’ve been very high on Snoop,” McDaniel said Saturday. "High enough to give him a roster spot on the 53, which those are very few and far between with sight unseen. So his maturation has been expedited by him, and he’s done an impressive job assimilating into the locker room and understanding our language as his own and the team is excited for him.”
Tua Tagovailoa remains on injured reserve with a concussion, and with backup Skylar Thompson nursing a rib injury sustained against Seattle in Week 3, the Dolphins quarterback options were Huntley and Tim Boyle, both of whom have been in Miami for less than a month.
Huntley said he has spent extensive time in the film room since joining the Dolphins on Sept. 17, trying to learn McDaniel's complicated playbook that includes pre-snap motions and timing-based throws. Huntley compared the process to riding a bike.
“First time, you’re a little iffy,” he said. “You didn’t know how to pedal. Then you just start putting it all together, pedaling, going in a straight line, then after a while, you’re going to start standing up.”
McDaniel said earlier this week that he won't necessarily create a set of new plays for Huntley, but instead would add elements within the existing system that fit his strengths.
“If you do (create new plays), the only way that you can is that there has to be some overlap into what you already do," McDaniel said. "Just because you don’t go in and completely change from ground zero everything you do, it has to be within your verbiage and ways that they’ve learned how to identify people, and who you’re reading and all that. I think there’s a balance.”
McDaniel also has experience with a quarterback joining a team and rapidly moving into a starting role. He was with San Francisco in 2017 when Jimmy Garoppolo was traded there from New England midseason and immediately became the 49ers' starter. The 49ers ended that season with five straight wins under Garopoplo after going 0-9 to start.
“You naturally reflect on, ‘OK, how do you pull that off?’” McDaniel said.
The answer to that question, for him, was in how Garoppolo's teammates responded to his leadership.
“There’s an unspoken, I don’t know, confidence and conviction that a person has to have,” McDaniel said, “where guys believe that, regardless of how long they’ve played with him, that they have the components to do what each and every one of them need him to do, really.”
McDaniel sees those same components in Huntley.
“He was replacing the league MVP and you could tell from far away that he was a guy that the team absolutely believed could lead them to victory,” the coach said last week.
Huntley has a 64.6% career completion rate and a 79% passer rating with eight passing touchdowns. He can extend plays with his legs, adding another dimension to a Dolphins offense that has struggled in three games and scored only 33 points.
Huntley has 509 career rushing yards with 4.4 yards per carry and three rushing touchdowns.
His focus has been on being ready when his number is called. McDaniel said he was more comfortable turning to Boyle when Thompson went down last week because Huntley had not had enough time to get acquainted with the offense.
“You’ve got to literally learn it like learning for the bar exam,” Huntley said with a smile. "I know some people probably took the bar exam, I didn’t. You’ve got to go all-in and just absorb everything that’s in the playbook.”
Boyle will serve as Huntley's backup on Monday, and Thompson could be available as an emergency third quarterback.
The Titans are still looking for their first win but have been stingy on defense, giving up just 139.3 yards passing per game. They've also been preparing to face Huntley well before McDaniel announced him as the starter on Saturday.
“We know that we're probably going to see Snoop most likely at quarterback," defensive end Jeffery Simmons said on Wednesday, “That’s one of the things we can for sure take heed to and pay attention to because if Snoop plays, it’ll probably be the same exact plays that we saw with Malik (Willis) with the quarterback runs and getting the ball on the perimeter and the edges.”
NOTES: Titans defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Chris Harris will miss Monday’s game. Secondary coach Steve Jackson will take over his duties.
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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa Walker contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.
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