John Beck battling for his career

The new administration of the Miami Dolphins is picking apart everything about that struggling football organization and right at the top of the list is whether to go with John Beck or use up a draft pick to go another direction.

Critics of Beck simply didn’t like his performances in four games.

Realists ask, what Dolphin offensive performance in that ragtag team stood out in any way, shape or form?

Beck supports say he would have done fine if he could had New England Patriot’s blocking, running and receiving around him.

Regardless, Beck is doing everything he can in the offseason to prepare himself for a battle of his career, right after a rookie season. I spoke to Beck just more than a week ago and he had a game plan, some of which he wants to keep private. It sounds good and Dolphin management will surely take note.

One interesting observation comes from Hugo Gozman of Real Football365.com on the Dolphin situation. He says you have to look no further than New York’s Eli Manning, to see a QB who looked horrible in tough situations early, even as early as this season, yet he’s playing in the Super Bowl come Sunday.

Writes Gozman:

“Beck finished the 2007 season completing 56.1 percent of his passing attempts, throwing for 559 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for a meek 62.0 passer rating. He also fumbled a ridiculous seven times, losing five of them, although several of those can be attributed to the 10 sacks he endured. Not exactly the most inspiring numbers.

“However, when compared to what Eli Manning put up in his first four games – on a team that was above the .500 mark when he took over – Beck comes off looking like a candidate for rookie of the year. Try these abhorrent numbers on for size: one touchdown, six interceptions, nine sacks, two fumbles, 38.6 completion percentage.

“Needless to say, Manning’s passer rating suffered greatly during this opening stint of games. To put into perspective, in his fourth outing, a 37-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Manning completed just 4 of 18 pass attempts for a meager 22 yards and threw two interceptions for a passer rating of 0.0.

“Manning was given an opportunity to finish out the season (the same can’t be said for Beck) and his numbers bounced back a bit; even so, though, he has continued to struggle with inconsistency and a penchant for throwing interceptions throughout his four-year career. Heck, earlier this year, Manning had three of his four interceptions returned for touchdowns against the upstart Minnesota Vikings.”