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Will it be Matt Moore or Ryan Tannehill getting the first snaps in Charlotte?

Very fairly, the big question for tomorrow night’s preseason game at Carolina is: Who will be the Dolphins’ starting quarterback?

We don’t know the answer yet, but it could certainly go either way. Below are reasons why it could either be Matt Moore or Ryan Tannehill…

The case for Matt Moore…

…He’s the veteran who led the Fins to a 6-3 record in their last nine games in 2011. He began the preseason second on the depth chart behind now-injured David Garrard and got the start last week against Tampa Bay. In the Bucs game, Moore completed seven of 12 passes for 79 yards and certainly didn’t do anything to “lose” his spot atop the now two-man QB race. As of this Monday’s depth chart (which, to be fair, is more of a rough draft than anything else), he was listed as the top guy.

The case for Ryan Tannehill…

…Coaches and fans really want to see the rookie first round pick with the rest of the starting offense and perhaps more importantly, against the opposition’s first team defense. Joe Philbin has said that he’d ideally like to know his Week 1 starter by the third preseason game and so if that’s still the case, we need to see Tannehill early in this game so that a fair evaluation can be made prior to next Friday night’s game against Atlanta.

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We have to keep in mind that above all else, the preseason is an evaluation period and the coaching staff’s top priority is figuring out which guys are going to make the final 53-man roster and what roles those guys will play.

Quarterback is no different and we should expect to see plenty of both Moore and Tannehill in this game. I’d be careful with this, too: tomorrow night’s starter is not necessarily “the starter.” This evaluation period still has some time left and I don’t think that Philbin will know who he plans on having under center Week 1 until AFTER this game, at the very earliest.

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