The Dolphins made a decision that arose plenty of criticism from draft experts and football fans of all sorts. Decisions are ultimately often criticized but did the Dolphins make a major mistake in passing on Brady Quinn? You could argue that if a team right after the Dolphins chose Quinn, but he landed in the 20’s. The whole time Miami knew who they wanted and that was Trent Green. It took longer than expected but the Chiefs and Dolphins finally came to an agreement. Time will tell, but for at least the next two seasons Miami is going to have a solid veteran quarterback who will allow John Beck time to learn and grow.

At 37 years of age, people would say Green is all but washed up. Years of quarterbacking would have had to take its toll on the average quarterback. Especially after seeing him having the daylights knocked out of him on a perfect layout hit last season. The truth of the matter is, Trent Green is a young 37 year old quarterback, as odd as that sounds.

He didn’t play a game in the NFL until 1998, and after a solid season with the Redskins landed with the Rams. From there we all become a little familiar with his story, as he went down with a preseason injury and the team turned into Kurt Warner’s. He was granted his leave from the Rams and spent the last five seasons having stellar seasons with the Chiefs.

In fact he stayed away from injuries and played every game from 2001 through 2005. During those seasons he quietly ranked amongst the elite in terms of throwing yards and overall performance. That was with a strong running game and basically a tight end in Tony Gonzalez. Both of those factors are gone, but Miami obviously feels Green is the main man. Can Green be the revival veteran that Jeff Garcia proved to be for the Eagles last season?

Since the Marino and Jimmy Johnson era ended the Dolphins have been scrambling to find an identity offensively. Meanwhile the defense has stayed strong and full of players such as Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor that have been Dolphins since the mid 90’s. The shift of transformation that hasn’t happened offensively may now catch up to an aging defense. This may be the reason the Dolphins signed an older veteran like Green to try and match the age of the defense, and go for some sort of playoff run in the next year or two.

With the strength of teams in the AFC that looks highly unlikely, but anytime a team is loaded with great veterans you never know what could happen. Miami has tried the veteran look several times in the last few years at the quarterback position. Jay Fiedler, Gus Frerotte, AJ Feeley, Daunte Culpepper, and the short lived Brian Griese all looked horrific. Fiedler did the best he could and actually got the Dolphins into the playoffs, but he was more of a leashed quarterback that looked good with Lamar Smith and Ricky Williams.

That trend seems to be a foreseen disastrous setup for Trent Green. There are signs of hope for him though. Nick Saban put life into the Dolphins even though they struggled early on last season. Even with his departure this team knows they can be a near or wild card team. New head coach Cam Cameron is a great fit for the Dolphins and he will look to spice up the Dolphins offense. The addition of Ted Ginn Jr. adds the new threat that teams need this day and age. So many games are decided by a field goal or a possession. Miami feels they can control the field position battle and get some big plays out of Ginn at the receiver position.

Where the problem may lay is on a totally revamped offensive line. They have a different projected starter at each position on the line, which could be a good thing. The Dolphins offensive line has been below average the last several seasons, which has kept Ronnie Brown from breaking out yet. As long as the offensive line holds its ground, then Green will be well worth the fourth round pick the Dolphins spent on him.

From a fantasy standpoint Green is a middle to high teen ranked quarterback. For several reasons he has to be ranked at that position. The Dolphins have a new staff and Green has to show he has fully recovered from his severe concussion last season. Plus, the negative results of Dolphins quarterbacks has to be on the front of fantasy managers minds. Green can be a spot or bye week starter but projections of his Chief days numbers will not happen. He is now relegated to being a second or third tier fantasy quarterback amongst the new class and younger veterans in the NFL.