Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick played some of the best football of his long career in 2019 with the Dolphins. It is a pretty incredible feat once you factor in the team’s lack of effectiveness on the ground and their inability to sustain their blocks in pass protection — but never the less Fitzpatrick was able to harness all of his veteran savvy for the final half of 2019 and will the Dolphins to a winning record over their final nine contests.
Just how good was Fitzpatrick last season? He was actually one of the league’s best deep ball passers — having big bodied targets like WR DeVante Parker and TE Mike Gesicki came in useful as Fitzpatrick looked to push the ball down the field.
By measuring a player’s expected completion percentage to their actual completion percentage on deep passes, NFL.com tabbed Ryan Fitzpatrick as the NFL’s eighth best deep passer in 2019.
“This is the outlier. Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins in rushing. He shouldn’t be here, right? Well, Fitzpatrick got here by being the daring risk-taker he’s long been, sending more of his deep passes into tight windows than not (56.6 percent of his 53 deep pass attempts were into tight windows). That type of loose play produced six touchdowns for the Dolphins, who rode Fitzpatrick’s efforts and energy to a handful of respectable wins, enough to keep them from drafting in the top three. So much for Tanking for Tua, whom they still got at No. 5 overall. Ryan Fitzpatrick is on this list. Seriously. What a funny, strange game this is.” – Nick Shook, NFL.com
An outlier indeed — although Fitzpatrick has made a living the past several years by living on the edge and seemingly always being able to live to find another gig thanks to his fearlessness as a passer. 2020 will afford Fitzpatrick the chance to do much of the same while also playing mentor to 2020 1st-round selection Tua Tagovailoa; another role Fitzpatrick is well versed in. If he’s able to find the right mix on both fronts this season, the Dolphins should be sitting pretty in terms of their quarterback play.