And that's that. So much for anticipation. Cam Cameron has said today that Cleo Lemon will start on Sunday against Buffalo. Here's the only quote from Cam that's in the original AP article:
I'm not really sure what that quote has to do with not starting John Beck. Hopefully we get more information on this developing situation as the afternoon progresses. But one thing is for sure: there are going to be many more "Cam haters" than there were previously. And for good reason. It's tough to defend this decision by Cam. Now is the time to play Beck. We need to know if he's going to be "the guy" for this franchise or if we should consider drafting a QB with the high first round pick this team is likely to have. Now we lose another game of potential experience for John. I, too, am now going to really question Cam's coaching decisions. I just don't see how starting Cleo benefits this team.
**UPDATE #1: Here's what Armando Salguero writes in his blog about this announcement:
So Cameron has heard your opinions, weighed all the facts, and ignored sound thinking. And his is the only opinion that really matters.
Seems the Dolphins coaching staff has convinced itself into believing Lemon is getting better as a player. You hear stupid, ridiculous things like "Cleo is starting to do some nice things with his feet," as one reason for keeping Lemon as the starter.
**UPDATE #2: Here are some Cam quotes courtesy of the Sun-Sentinel:
"John Beck has been one play away from playing several weeks now. He's progressing, doing a nice job. We'll continue with his development."
"We feel confident when given the opportunity he'll do fine, but right now Cleo is practicing extremely well. Cleo does a lot of good things. Cleo has given us an opportunity to win in a couple of these games and we're going to continue to go in that direction. If I feel like a decision needs to be made differently and we need to go in another direction then I'll do that."
I want to know what it's going to take for Cameron to "feel like a decision needs to be made differently." This would have been the ideal time to make the switch, in my opinion. Now, the next two games following this Buffalo game (at Philly and at Pittsburgh) seem like tough places to for Beck to make his NFL debut. So are we possibly talking about waiting until week 13 to see what this kid can do? Are they actually considering only giving Beck 5 games of experience in a totally lost season which would be ideal for giving a rookie QB experience? I've been a Cam supporter, and still am, but it's getting tougher and tougher to defend him when he's making these kinds of decisions.