Dolphins' QB quandary is intriguing
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The Dolphins' likely starting quarterback in 2007 is still property of the Kansas City Chiefs. The most high-profile QB on the roster is a long way from doing football activities. So while the Dolphins and their fans wait for Trent Green to arrive (which should happen) and Daunte Culpepper to get healthy (which may never happen in Miami), Cleo Lemon and John Beck get the reps with the first team during mini-camp. Don't book your Dolphins playoff tickets in advance. But truthfully, Lemon is a very intriguing young player. He's a former Charger who was caught smack in the middle of the Marty Schottenheimer vs. AJ Smith feud. Marty loved his talent and upside and became rightly incensed when Smith dealt him to Miami in the A.J. Feely deal. Lemon replaced Joey Harrington in Nick Saban's lineup late last year and knows new coach Cam Cameron from their days together in San Diego. In talking to Lemon at length yesterday, all he wants is a chance. And he's working hard at it. Lemon said, "It's all about experience and right now that's what I am lacking. But I have been working hard since getting in Coach Cam's off-season program. We've been at it four days a week trying to tighten up my fundamentals. We have been in the classroom. We have been very detail-oriented in the playbook, working with Coach Cam and (quarterbacks) Coach (Terry) Shea, trying to get that thing together. And I've been doing a lot of video sessions and a lot of individual work to improve my drops and my accuracy. "We've been focusing on my football, grinding it out drop after drop all off-season. We're going hard from the 3-step to the 5-step to the 7-step. We've been working on play-action passes. And really just getting it down so my feet are going in the right direction and that dramatically improves my accuracy. Coach Cam always challenges you mentally. He brings in new ideas, thoughts, and techniques. A lot of the stuff I am doing now I am doing for the first time. Coach Cam expands his offense. So I am still grasping it mentally." Lemon thinks his performance over the weekend at mini-camp went well. "I've been taking reps with the first team and taking advantage. Obviously there is conversation about Trent, and Daunte is rehabbing to get back. You have to take advantage of every rep. You can't let things on the outside, things you can't control, consume you. All I can control is my preparation and play and practice and getting ready for training camp." Lemon thinks the biggest hurdle is perception. He played at Arkansas State and was far from a household name. But he has impressed a lot of teammates in practice in both San Diego and Miami. Lemon says, "I've never looked as myself as a back-up. I look at myself as a starter. I just want to impress the coaching staff and the general manager and let them know I can get the job done. And I want to instill that confidence in my teammates. I want to show these guys I can play. ... You don't need a proven veteran to lead the team. I want them to know that I put it on the line every day with them and I want them to have confidence in me to lead them to wins this year." Meanwhile, John Beck was the second-round pick geared to make fans forget about both Dan Marino and Brady Quinn. Beck told us last week that he cannot control the sentiment that Quinn was, "the second-best quarterback on (the) media's board. It wasn't that way for a lot of NFL teams." In fact, the mature BYU star actually was very impressed with Cameron dealing with the fans on draft day. Beck said, "Coach Cameron obviously made a decision and he stood by it. I've seen the clip when he had to address the fans on draft day. I saw what happened when he stood by Ted Ginn. That's just so impressive to me and why I want to play for him and why I clicked with him right away. Coach stood by his decision. I was impressed how he handled that." Beck wanted to be a Dolphin. He met with Cameron and loved his offensive concepts. He views himself as a Drew Brees type. Cameron and the cerebral Beck clicked instantly. To say he's elated to be in Miami is a major understatement. "The type of person coach Cameron is, his vision for the Miami Dolphins, it fit so well with me and the type of person I am. Going in you never know who is going to pick you, but I was hoping it was going to be Coach Cameron and the Dolphins. I'm very pleased how it worked out. A quarterback can never do something on his own. He needs his teammates and the coaching staff. And that's why I am excited to be in Miami with Coach Cameron. He has tutored guys like Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. They have come in and done well. I look forward to the opportunity to become one of those guys." And Beck added that he would love the opportunity to sit back and learn from Trent Green. Which brings us full circle. There is no doubt that Green is a great fit for the Dolphins in 2007 and 2008. I still believe Green is a winning quarterback who can perform at a Pro Bowl level. He had his clock cleaned in Week 1 last year, but will get back to form this season. He proved at the end of 2006 he still can wing it. I know Green knows Cameron and Shea well, having worked with them in the past. He knows the playbook. But he doesn't know the Dolphin receivers. I think it is important to get timing down right now in May, so September isn't a learning curve month. A lot of folks talk about the Dolphins having all the leverage since the Chiefs are likely to cut Green in June. And that's fair. But the Dolphins need Green right now to get a rapport with Chris Chambers and company. A happy medium needs to be worked out in terms of trade compensation. Green has history with Cameron. So does Lemon. John Beck, not Brady Quinn, was the coach's hand-picked quarterback. Thus, I don't believe Culpepper will ever take another snap for the Dolphins. Adam Schein hosts the Afternoon Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller from 3-7 ET. Schein is the NFL insider for Sports Net New York. His "Scheintology" columns appear daily and his video NFL picks video reports appear every Friday on FOXSports.com. Email him at adamjschein@hotmail.com |
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