Beck Article From BlogCritics

Miami Dolphins: John Beck on Deck

Written by Jordan
Published May 10, 2007

There are fewer teams in the NFL with a more uncertain future than the Miami Dolphins. Miami, a team that has been neither horrible or wonderful over the past few seasons, has struggled at the quarterback position. After trading for Dante Culpepper - a former Minnesota Vikings star - the Dolphins seemed to have found the answer. Until, that is, this answer returned to a question when the season began. Not only did Culpepper start out with mediocre performances, but he finished on the injured reserve list.

The occurrences of last season left the Dolphins without a quarterback of the future, forcing them to draft a person to fill the role. After receiving criticism for passing on Brady Quinn, the Dolphins took John Beck. Beck, the former Brigham Young quarterback, was taken by the Miami Dolphins in the 2007 draft. Chosen with their second pick, Beck was 40th overall.

Beck was born in Hayward, California, and attended high school in Mesa, Arizona where he was a football star. During his junior and senior years, he quarterbacked his team to a 25-2 record, including a state championship. This led to a large amount of honors including first team all-state, USA Today All American honorable mention, Offensive Player of the Year, Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete honors and the Arizona High School Football Player of the Year.

Beck was recruited by BYU and began his career as a true freshman. During his sophomore year, he earned second team All-Mountain West honors and broke both the BYU single game sophomore record and the Mountain West Conference record with 67 pass attempts against UNLV. This season he also averaged 233 yards a game, passing the three thousand yard make. In the game against San Diego, Beck received a quarterback rating of 204.8.

During his junior year, Beck saw his stock take off as he received All-Mountain West Conference first team honors, and team Most Valuable Player. Ranked fifth nationally, Beck averaged 309 yards per game. He was ranked as one of the top 30 players in the Mountain West Conference by College Football News and ranked in the top-40 quarterbacks in the US by College Football Preview.

In Beck's senior year, ESPN ranked him as the second best quarterback in the nation for efficiency. After leading BYU to a 10-2 record, Beck was a finalist for the Unitas Golden Arm Award and was even mentioned in some Heisman conversations. Beck's senior year, and his collegiate career, ended when BYU beat Oregon 38-8 in the Las Vegas Bowl. During this game, Beck threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 26 yards and one touchdown.

As for this season, Beck will probably see little - if any - playing time. Once his Rookie season is under his belt, he might surprise some people, leaving Dolphin fans to ask "Brady who?"