The Miami Dolphins do indeed have a quarterback competition on their hands. The battle this year isn’t as closely monitored as last year’s showdown between Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick — at least not yet. Maybe that is in part because everyone knows where the road is eventually leading to: the Dolphins’ choice at No. 5 overall getting a crack at the starting lineup at some point.
But the timetable appears to be gradual — that is of course unless Tua Tagovailoa is able to flip the switch and chase down Fitzpatrick over the next few weeks. A new report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo indicates that we shouldn’t expect to see it in time for Week 1 versus the Patriots.
“Brian Flores comes from the Bill Belichick school of competition. He wouldn’t declare a starting quarterback in this competition this early. But the expectation is you’re looking at the starter in Ryan Fitzpatrick,” said Garafolo.
“It’s less a health thing with Tua, it’s more, he’s going to have to beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick.”
Early reports from Dolphins camp suggest that Tagovailoa hasn’t been bad by any means, but he’s also hasn’t been able to blow things out of the water during his time on the practice field. Some of his issues have fallen at the feet of working with backups and some of his reps, especially on Monday, were conservative. But don’t push the panic button just yet, Dolphins fans. Remember, this is as untraditional of an offseason as you’ll ever see — and Tagovailoa hasn’t taken snaps since last November. All reports indicate that he looks fluid and mobile, which is more important than questioning if he’s mastered his offense without ever taking a single snap in a game setting.
If all things hold, the Dolphins will have a good problem on their hands. They’ll have an established veteran in Ryan Fitzpatrick, they’ll have a top-5 pick to groom and they’ll have a rejuvenated Josh Rosen in the building as well — he’s been, by many accounts, the most physically impressive of the three all week through Wednesday.