Personally I feel the same way about Fitz and what he accomplished last year with the most depleted roster ive ever seen, so I think he gets the chance to play regardless of the medicals on Tua..

Being cleared doesn’t mean you can’t get stronger and faster over some time..

Tuas projection?, superstar status imo..but I’m not in a hurry to see him until Fitz and the team is out of playoff contention..

Fitz knows this offense very well considering the relationship he’s had with Gailey over the years.

Fitz isn’t stupid, we know this, he knew when taking this job that he would be a mentor as well with a young Qb..

Just so happens I think the guys arrow on the field is pointed upwards..I think he’s in the process of taming his weakness to throw into coverage, and has figured out how to cut defenses with his legs as a threat.

I’m excited on two different levels, to see how far Fitz can take the team with huge upgrades of talent across the board.

2nd, to know that we are in a position where we can equip our young Qb with knowledge and time to strengthen the injury, so the uber talented Tua can be at his absolute best both physically and mentally.

 

You missed one: Dolphins drafted Rick Norton with pick #2 in round 1 of the 1966 AFL draft.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NortRi00.htm

 

WOW! 41% completion percentage, 7 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions.

His name needs to be mentioned more when talking about the biggest draft busts in Dolphin's history.

 

I thought David Garrard was supposed to be the starter during Tannehills rookie year? He got hurt didn't he? I know Matt Moore was in the mix too, I can't remember. I do know that Tannehill started and I remember that first game against the Texans.

I think Tua takes a very similar road, although it wouldn't surprise me at all if he sits his entire rookie season. With that said, I don't expect Fitzpatrick to just suddenly be a consistently good quarterback either. Remember that he was benched for Rosen for what? Four or five games last season? The minute we start losing games (AND WE WILL), people will start calling for Tua Tagovailoa. It's going to happen at some point. I expect Josh Rosen to get another look as well, but I think we all know in our hearts that he wont be finishing his career as a Miami Dolphin.

I do know that there were a lot of people that just wanted us to keep rolling with Fitzpatrick and not draft a quarterback, and it is just baffling to me how bad short term memory loss has become these days. Fitz is what he is and that isn't going to change. He can't get us to the playoffs, but he can win us a playoff game if that makes sense. He's a valuable player to have on the roster and I expect him to start the season, but the he'll be on a short leash as always and by week five when we are sitting at 1-4, we can all fully expect a change at the position. I just think it will be for Josh Rosen and not Tua. I'm no Nostrodamus but I don't think Tua plays this season at all unless both Fitzpatrick and Rosen get injured. Of course....Jake Rudock is probably still hanging around somewhere.

 

You're right about Garrard. He was supposed to start and ideally Tannehill would sit that first year. Then Garrard got injured.

But the circumstances around Rosen starting those three games may not be as simple as Fitz was playing poorly. Now Fitz was not playing well at all, but what I heard was that the coaching staff did not want to go to Rosen b/c they didn't believe he was ready, but were forced into it by Ross. Seeing how we all saw Rosen unable to identify the Mike during the game he clearly was not ready.

I fully expect that, short of injury, Fitz starts the season. He is not now a consistently good QB, but according to PFF he has been a top half QB the last two seasons. All QBs can be inconsistent at times. The elite guys less so. What you see with Fitz the last two seasons is that his inconsistencies are now infrequent enough that he's a top half QB. I'm sure Fitz will have some struggles but I don't think Flores is as likely to be forced into starting Tua too soon. And hopefully, Ross learned that he should listen to Flores when it comes to decisions about who to play. Outside of an injury forcing our hand, I don't expect that Tua is likely to start during the first half of the season. And, like you, I wouldn't be surprised to see him sit all year.

 

For me, I could care less about Fitzpatrick's stats or even if we win/lose (obviously I want us to win...). He was brought in because he's the first guy on the field in the morning and one of the last to leave. Last season, he clocked hundreds of hours with receivers while he was "off the clock"....and it wasn't really to benefit him as much as it was to get young players up to speed. Guys like that are ultra rare in any sport and when you combine that with his top 15ish talent, I truly believe that he was the best possible choice to lead the team last season.

Going into this season, it's still not about the numbers, per se, than the growth we see with the offense and our two young QB's. How players develop in 2020 will hopefully play a part in championships years down the road...long after Fitz is retired. But he's the ideal guy today to set that culture and that work ethic to build around. You couldn't ask for much more.

My only hope....if this team is SB bound in the next 5 years, I hope Fitz is still around as a coach, consultant, or something so he gets a ring too. He's certainly earned it in the worst possible conditions.

 

I definitely did not watch every game last year or watch every presser. I know that I (like you pointed out with Flores) just wanted to see what Rosen could do under those circumstances (I watched the Dallas game). If "benched" it too harsh of a description, I apologize and claim ignorance to my statement. At that point in time, the season was already a dumpster fire and I had basically given up on following anything the organization was doing. I was basically waiting for the misery to end. I'm not going to get into the whole debate about "if so and so was our QB, they would have handled things better" because that would be pure speculation on my part. Our offensive line was atrocious and quite possibly historically bad so I agree with you, it would not have mattered. I was pissed off about us trading Minkah, and then Drake to follow, and then all of a sudden Fitz was back as our guy and we started competing, we started scaring teams, and then we started winning towards the end. We've seen older quarterbacks resurrected from the depths of well traveled vet backups to short term quality starters in the past. Fitzpatrick has that in him, and I think he's the perfect "bridge" QB until Rosen or Tua is ready. I don't think that Rosen is really in our long term plans at this point, because developmentally he just seems so far behind. It could be attributed to how young he is, but until he can read a defense he's not going to be anything more than a talented arm with untapped potential and a low football IQ. Either way, i'm looking forward to the season, I hope we are pleasantly surprised by one of our quarterbacks and we can win some games.

 

I watched every game and Fitzpatrick was literally running for his life those first few games. It was similar to the Fins in 2016 under Tannehill before we put that run together- instant pressure through multiple gaps and generally zero chance of making a first down....much less a TD. The front office/Ross wanted to see what Rosen could do and it was no surprise- he couldn't do much with guys instantly in his face. But to me Rosen looked better than a lot give him credit for and he almost won a few games for us. I say "almost" because he had some deep TD passed dropped by Grant and Williams. I personally think he could still have a future in the NFL. Rosen was pulled because the hits were really starting to add up.

Around mid-season the offensive line started finding SOME chemistry. Fitz was still running for his life and when the pocket broke down, he'd just turn up-field and take as many yards as his old legs could generate. He was not fast or agile, mind you, but the competitor clearly showed and he was moving the chains. This caused defenses to pause just enough to dial back the pressure a little bit and let our young line figure a few things out. By week 15, our line was playing average NFL football...which in itself is a miracle. Fitz made a lot of that possible though by sacrificing his own body when there was no protection.

As I said earlier, people can trash Fitzpatrick's arm or talent all they want- but he's one hell of a quarterback and a leader. He literally made last season what it was and I have all the respect in the world for the man. I also think Rosen will surprise some folks moving forward though and he could also develop into one heck of a QB...he has A TON of raw talent despite landing on two lousy teams to start his career. I honestly think the camp battle for QB1 could be fairly heated in 2021 or 2022 and that's an awesome problem to have.

One last thing; people keep saying to trade Rosen- WHY?!? He's young, talented and costs $2M a year as a backup. There is literally ZERO reason to get rid of a young developing QB just because you have another young, developing QB. That's how it's supposed to work folks, we just never did it the smart way like Indy, Green Bay, NE, etc.

 

He had 11 starts:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NortRi00/gamelog/

 

Obviously Rosen isnt their plan A.

That said, if he lights it up miraculously this season, I'd much rather move the unknown in Tua via trade than Rosen.

A bird in the hand is worth at least two in the Bush after all.

 

That's true...I mean San Diego had the same thing happen with Drew Brees. They drafted Rivers, Brees looked like a bust and then all of a sudden the light came on for him.

 

I'd also point out that Marino wasn't the player that Shula wanted in he 1983 draft. Mostly because no one expected him to be there when they picked. Reportedly they were targeting Mike Charles, a defensive lineman but when Marino dropped he became the BPA and by such a large margin they couldn't pass him up.

 

Fitzpatrick is not the long term starter, everyone knows it including him. But he will be the starter this season. I have been a proponent of starting Fitz and letting Tua ride the bench his rookie season. Bring him in at the end of games for some mop up duty and gain experience. I have heard many say give the o line time to improve before you start Tua and maybe they will need it, I assume the will start 2 rookies there, but that is no reason to sit Tua.

I think sitting him like the Chiefs did with Mahomes is the best thing to do for him. Lets face it, we are not going to win the division this year and even with the expanded format it's doubtful we make the playoffs. So what's the rush? He can take over next season with a team that is seriously ready to compete.