After the Miami Dolphins-New Orleans Saints preseason game Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores named Ryan Fitzpatrick the Miami Dolphins Week 1 starting quarterback to open the regular season.
Ryan Fitzpatrick as @MiamiDolphins starting QB tells me this was never an open quarterback competition this training camp/preseason. And Flores had Fitzpatrick as "his guy" since day 1. Because on the field performance it wasn't close in the 3 preseason games. Rosen was better.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) August 30, 2019
Through the 3 preseason games Josh Rosen clearly outplayed Ryan Fitzpatrick. Including a 99 yard touchdown drive by Josh Rosen in Week 3 of the preseason where Rosen was on the field with only back-ups on the offensive line and wide receivers. Ryan Fitzpatrick struggled most of the time he was on the field during the three preseason games. Brian Flores said though after the Saints game he believes sitting helps a quarterbacks development. Which played a factor in his decision to go with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Dolphins Week 1 starting QB is… FitzMagic. Ryan Fitzpatrick wins the job.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 30, 2019
Head coach Brian Flores has stated numerous time his decision will be off of more than just the preseason games to determine who his starting quarterback will be. But he has also said he must play the player who performs better as it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team if he didn’t. The call to go with Fitzpatrick will be questioned by many from fans to media members. Just this past week Boomer Esiason of The NFL Today on CBS and WFAN in NYC questioned why this was even a debate and why Miami wasn’t just giving Rosen a chance to play from the get-go.
There is an overwhelming thought out there that Fitzpatrick will start the first 4 games of the season vs the Ravens, Patriots, Cowboys, and Chargers. Then Week 5 is the BYE week and unless Fitzpatrick has Miami at 2-2 or better, Rosen will then be given an opportunity to play come Week 6 vs the Redskins after the BYE Week. While this plan on paper makes some sense, it is also makes little sense as well if you really think about it. If you want to find out if Josh Rosen is the quarterback of the future and if he can the guy to move forward with into 2020 and beyond then to get a true evaluation of Rosen you need to see him vs good teams. Not make things easier on him and hold him out of games against teams you think may be too good. Especially since Rosen did in fact outplay Fitzpatrick in three preseson games.
Time will tell if Brian Flores made the correct call here, and if in the end it wasn’t the right call it is one that will be on his resume forever and one that he will be judged by moving forward. And with 3 of the first 4 regular games at home, if Fitzpatrick gets off to a rocky start the BOOOOO BIRDS will be out in force at Hard Rock Stadium and the honeymoon time for Brian Flores in Miami will be short.
You can see a little of what a player is like in preseason and I can’t say for the practices and in the classroom. When I go back and look at film from Arizona, it wasn’t pretty. I would love to see Rosen start, but I think Flores has made a very good decision. Rosen will get his chance! It could be sooner than you think.