David Woodley

[CSKreager]

Has there ever been a QB that basically did less and still won?

In Miami, he was the epitome of 'won in spite of.' The best thing about him as a QB was that he had Don Shula.

He lucked out in falling to Miami in the draft, the Killer B’s basically had to carry him. Like, how many other teams in the early 80s could he have started for?

Put him on the early 80s Saints/Colts and he'd have been just as bad as Art Schlichter

Miami needed back-to-back 5 INT games against more talented Charger/Jet teams which says a lot about the margin for error.

If they start Strock in SB 17, they win that game IMO.

I will never understand what Shula saw in this guy.

[7DnBrnc53]

I think that Shoes liked his mobility, but that's all he had going for him. In 1978, the Dolphins may have drafted a better QB in Guy Benjamin out of Stanford (Cowboy WR Tony Hill, who played at Stanford, said that Benjamin was the second-best QB he ever played with behind Staubach. That means he thinks that he was better than Danny White, who took them to three straight NFC Title Games). However, the vets didn't like him, and called him a Stanford Hippie (what ever that means):

https://miamimigraine.blogspot.com/2008 ... -part.html

Guy made a comment in this blog entry.

[TanksAndSpartans]

That was a great article. Thanks for posting it @7DnBrnc53. I remember when we first talked about it, but I would have never found it. There is a good chapter about Woodley in PFRA member Tom Danyluk's Majesty and Mayhem: Pro Football of the 1980s too.

In my opinion, you don't start Strock, but you definitely bring him into that Super Bowl much earlier. Not doing so was a mistake by Shula.

[Brian wolf]

Besides his mobility and running ability, Shula liked Woodley's ability to help win games for the Dolphins. His starting record for Miami was 30-14-1 counting postseason. Even before Marino took over in 1983, he was 3-2 as starter. He had the miserable second half in the SB against the Skins but Wash also controlled the ball, wearing down the defense.

Guy Benjamin had that heavy, Dan Fouts-type beard, which is why he was compared to a hippie. He admitted he didnt like the atmosphere in Miami but like Strock, didnt fight hard enough to improve his chances of making more an impact with the team. He said he beat out DeBerg for the backup job in 1981 with SF but that was because Walsh didnt want DeBerg distracting from Joe taking over the job and was sent to Denver.

[Jay Z]

I don't really understand what happened with Strock when Woodley came in. In 1978-79 he had a better QBR than Griese. Then from 1980-82 Strock has a worse QBR than Woodley. Since Woodley was more mobile, why would you play Strock over Woodley? But Strock sort of blew his chance with his play at the time. Or he couldn't take the pressure of being "the guy."

[Bryan]

Has there ever been a QB that basically did less and still won?

In Miami, he was the epitome of 'won in spite of.' The best thing about him as a QB was that he had Don Shula.

He lucked out in falling to Miami in the draft, the Killer B’s basically had to carry him. Like, how many other teams in the early 80s could he have started for?

Put him on the early 80s Saints/Colts and he'd have been just as bad as Art Schlichter

Miami needed back-to-back 5 INT games against more talented Charger/Jet teams which says a lot about the margin for error.

If they start Strock in SB 17, they win that game IMO.

I will never understand what Shula saw in this guy.

I don't really agree with any of this. Mike Livingston won his first 10 starts with the Chiefs. Mike Kruczek went 6-0 with the Steelers in 76 and remained the backup for 4 years and never threw a TD pass.

I agree that Woodley's passing statistics aren't good, but I think Woodley did a good enough job in leading the offense. Miami's offense was dead in the water in 1980, and when Shula made Woodley the regular starter halfway through the season, the offense came to life (including a 35-14 destruction of a good Rams defense). I think the best argument for Woodley is that Miami's offense improved from 24th to 11th to 10th from 1980 to 1982 with Woodley as the starter.

Miami didn't "need" back to back 5 INT games in the 1982 postseason. Woodley had nearly a perfect game against NE in the first round...16-19-246-2 TDs....and accounted for 3 TDs the next week against SD in a blowout win. The 82 title game was rough, but at least Woodley led all rushers in the game with 46 yards, and the Dolphins offense scored a TD. Maybe I am overselling Woodley, but I thought he usually did something to help his team win. He'd at least make one or two big plays even if he was inconsistent.

Not sure if Dolphins win Super Bowl 17 with Strock starting....he usually did much better coming off the bench for whatever reason. That said, I agree that at the very least Strock should have replaced Woodley at halftime.

[sheajets]

I believe he suffered from some kind of depression or anxiety disorder and self medicated with alcohol. Quarterback is a real hard position to play if you're not comfortable with being under pressure, in the spotlight, have thin skin, or are not much of a leader/motivator. Supposedly he was an introvert by nature.

He was talented physically. Good arm and more athletic than most at the time. As a passer he wasn't very good. Prone to interceptions and just not very accurate...and things could definitely snowball for him due to his confidence issues. He wasn't very good at reading defenses or anticipating...he just had these sandlot instincts that sometimes took over and led to some bad decisions. Also I remember he was definitely a guy who would stare down his receiver

But I don't he was ever the absolute worst in the league. He was solidly in that bottom tier. During his career you always had a handful of guys who were definitely having a worse year than he was. Todd and Simms were horrid in 80. 1981 you had guys like Evans and Marc Wilson stinking up the joint. 82 with Joe Ferguson and Mike Pagel. 1983 he only played a handful of games but one guy that was worse was John Elway. People seem to forget how putrid and nightmarish some of his games were. Scott Brunner and Ed Luther were also awful that year.

[Throwin_Samoan]

I believe he suffered from some kind of depression or anxiety disorder and self medicated with alcohol.

He did indeed.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs07/new ... id=3209245.

[Cali_Eagle]

The 1982 AFC Title Game was played in a driving rainstorm on a muddy Orange Bowl grass field. Woodley outperformed Richard Todd. Both were terrible but Woodley's passing was far less damaging to Miami than Todd's was to the Jets. Those conditions make it hard for anyone to pass well.
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Link to PFR if anyone wants to see the game stats. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 230mia.htm

Link to NFL brief write up on A.J. Duhe's career day. https://www.nfl.com/100/originals/100-g ... /games-100

[JameisBrownston]

Has there ever been a QB that basically did less and still won?

Mark Sanchez. Tim Tebow. Zombie Peyton. I've seen far worse than Woodley.