There are many unknowns about the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback situation in 2020. Here’s what we do know: veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick earned the trust of his coaches and teammates in 2020. As a 38-year old quarterback in a contract year, Fitzpatrick will not be a long-term fixture on the roster. The long-term answer is presumed to be Tua Tagovailoa, who the team drafted with the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Beyond that, all bets are off. Does Tagovailoa make a run at the starting job early on? Does Fitzpatrick play the whole season with Tua on a redshirt year? Under what conditions would we be wise to consider flipping from Fitzpatrick to Tagovailoa mid-season?
These are all unanswered questions, but the unknown is a fascinating sub-plot to this Dolphins offseason and ultimately will make Tagovailoa a hot storyline amongst 2020 rookies. NFL.com was charged with identifying the 25 rookies best positioned for success in 2020 — and despite the unknown Tagovailoa checked in at No. 4:
“And now we arrive at the first rookie that we considered leaving off this list. The reports on Tua’s recovery from hip surgery have been glowing all offseason, but the health concerns and uncertainty about when he’ll get a chance to relieve Ryan Fitzpatrick of his starting duties made us question whether the former Alabama star really belonged in these rankings, despite the declarations that he’s a left-handed Drew Brees. Ultimately, the potential is too great to ignore, even with an offensive line that leaves plenty to be desired. Miami hired a coordinator (Chan Gailey) who can design a spread offense that will play to Tagovailoa’s strengths and the skill-position talent has a chance to be much better than folks expect.” – Dan Parr, NFL.com
Is you disregard the Ryan Fitzpatrick hurdle, the Dolphins have a lot working for them in their structure around Tua. The team invested heavily and with conviction on the offensive line and brought in an offensive coordinator that will have the offense ready to assimilate to Tagovailoa’s strengths when he finally touches the field.
But again, it’s a question of when that happens and whether or not his time comes in 2020 or not.