Tag: Ryan Fitzpatrick

Ryan Fitzpatrick says beating Patriots with Bills among all-time career moments

Former Buffalo Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick says beating New England Patriots in 2011 part of all-time career moments.

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s longest spell with a team came with the Buffalo Bills from 2009-2012. For most, it’s an easy choice for Bills fans to pick the best moment of his tenure under center in Buffalo.

But Fitzpatrick says that highlight isn’t just his favorite from his time in Western New York, but in his entire career.

Fitzpatrick, speaking on the What’s Next? Podcast With Eric Wood, said early in the 2011 season with Buffalo was perhaps the highest high in his career. Specifically when the Bills topped the New England Patriots to go 3-0.

“The highs of the beginning of that season. We went to Kansas City for the opener on September 11 and blew the doors off of Kansas City, came back, had the awesome game versus Oakland, where we went down and scored at the end,” Fitzpatrick said. “And then New England, obviously.”

“The feeling… that was probably my favorite feeling I’ve had in all my years, when we beat New England to go 3-0. Just everybody in Buffalo, the feeling in that stadium,” Fitzpatrick added. “Even looking at Freddy J (Jackson), what an amazing game he had, what it meant to him. Just kind of the history of that. How many times they had beaten up the Bills and everything. That was maybe one of my highest highs.”

That 34-31 win in Orchard Park that day came on the heels of a 17-point fourth quarter comeback. The Bills were down 14-0 early in that one, and entered halftime down 21-10. Then the Bills circled those wagons.

Unfortunately, the team then had some of the lowest of lows that same season. After going 5-2, the Bills lost all but one of their remaining games to finish the year 6-10. Fitzpatrick was dinged up in that game his team went 5-2, a 23-0 win over the Washington Redskins.

That led to some less than stellar play on that losing streak. But for a guy who has had some remarkable highs (and lows) throughout his career, like those three-straight 400-yard passing games with the Bucs, it shows how in-tune Fitzpatrick was, and still is, with WNY and Bills Mafia to put that game on a big pedestal in his career.

 

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Ryan Fitzpatrick takes pride in representing “old school gunslingers”

Ryan Fitzpatrick takes pride in representing “old school gunslingers”

The Miami Dolphins experienced some of their better quarterback play this side of Dan Marino in 2019 courtesy of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Some of the NFL’s more blessed fanbases may get a chuckle out of that suggestion, but it is no laughing matter — it’s absolutely true. A handful of individual seasons (one from Chad Pennington in 2008 and another from Ryan Tannehill in 2014) may have better numbers or wins; but when you factor in how Fitzpatrick played with the team around him in Miami, there’s no question “Fitzmagic” was on full display.

For the season, Fitzpatrick passed for 3,529 yards and 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Along the way, he was sacked 40 times (7.4% of his dropbacks) behind the NFL’s worst offensive line and added 243 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. But remember — Fitzpatrick yielded the starting job for three games and the team’s offense was crippled early on by the departures of Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills a week before the season started.

Over the course of the final 13 weeks of the NFL season (12 games for the Dolphins), Fitzpatrick posted the following stats:

  • 3,226 passing yards (5th in the NFL, 1st in the AFC East)
  • 19 passing touchdowns (12th in the NFL, 1st in the division)
  • 7.17 yards per attempt (14th in the NFL, 1st in the division)
  • 63.1% completion rate (T-14th in the NFL, 1st in the division)

And posted all of these numbers despite being sacked 34 times in that span, which was fifth-most in the NFL and the most in the AFC East. Impressive stuff, indeed.

But beyond the numbers, what is impressive about Ryan Fitzpatrick is his complete disregard for his statistics when the bullets are flying. Fitzpatrick spoke on his disregard for numbers during his appearance on the What’s Next? Podcast With Eric Wood.

“I almost take pride in the fact I’ve had a game where I had six touchdowns and zero interceptions but I’ve also had a game where I had zero touchdowns and six interceptions,” said Fitzpatrick.

“When I watch quarterbacks and I can see that they’re thinking about their stats and their quarterback rating in the 4th quarter when they’re losing in a football game, like that just kills me to the core. So, I almost think at times I’m like, representing the old school gunslinger. Like, when we’re down, I know you can’t score 14 points with one throw, which you used to always say to me but I’m still trying to at times.”

As eager as we all are to see Tua Tagovailoa behind center, letting the “old school gunslinger” let it rip will continue to be a treat — that is of course until the wins stop coming.

 

Dolphins’ Ryan Fitzpatrick showcases why he’s the perfect QB mentor

Dolphins’ Ryan Fitzpatrick showcases why he’s the perfect QB mentor

When the Miami Dolphins announced that they were rebuilding in 2019 and then subsequently came out and signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, it was difficult to see the logic behind the decision. The Dolphins were looking to tear things down, yet they signed a bridge quarterback who would play well enough to threaten the team’s standing for a top draft choice.

And while that’s exactly what happened as the Dolphins surged to a 5-4 finish to the season and picked No. 5 overall, the football gods were kind to Miami and the Dolphins still got their man, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.

And Fitzpatrick, is still here — and now that the hard part of drafting the quarterback high is over with, Fitzpatrick is now the perfect veteran quarterback to serve as a mentor on the roster. The Dolphins simply decided to acquire the second-most important fixture first.

For some context as to why Fitzpatrick is the perfect mentor, you don’t need to look any further than his appearance on the What’s Next? Podcast With Eric Wood. Fitzpatrick played several seasons in Buffalo with the former Bills center; and Fitzpatrick’s appearance shed some light on being a veteran quarterback and a mentor.

“The other thing in bringing in a new guy is that I always try and impress right away on these guys is: I am here. Again, zero ego, I have so much knowledge. I have made so many mistakes in this league, in terms of dumb decisions and throws. I learned how to prepare, I’ve learned so much about offenses and defenses and the way guys operate. Ask questions. Like, I’m an open book. Ask me whatever you want,” said Fitzpatrick.

That’s the luxury of having a quarterback who has won and lost plenty of quarterback competitions and endured to always find the next opportunity. Ryan Fitzpatrick, like a fine wine, continues to get better with age, too — he played his best career football in 2019 with the Dolphins. And aside of his eagerness to be an open book, he’s excited to work with Tagovailoa, too.

“I’m really excited, I’m really excited that they drafted (Tagovailoa). I’m excited because I watched him play at Alabama and he seems like he’s a pretty dynamic talent,” Fitzpatrick said. “For me, I’m his biggest cheerleader right now.”

But Fitzpatrick has found the balance in being not just a supporting coworker and a resource for younger quarterbacks — he’s still looking to play. And while he’s eager and ready to work with Tua Tagovailoa in 2020, he’s not exactly looking to defer the starting job away just yet. Sometimes the most valuable learning can be to watch someone else make the errors that you would otherwise be making.

“I think part of it is, they have to take a backseat and watch,” Fitzpatrick said. “They have to watch how I operate… not to say what I do is perfect… but there are going be a lot of things they can pull from me that they like and there’s going to be some things they can pull from me that they don’t like and say, ‘I don’t want that.’ But I think that I have enough qualities that Miami has seen that they like and they would like another quarterback to have in them.”

Eric Wood, Ryan Fitzpatrick think QB should’ve been EJ Manuel’s mentor

Former Buffalo Bills OL Eric Wood, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick say he should have been EJ Manuel’s mentor.

There’s plenty of ‘what if’ type of scenarios for all professional sports franchises. When you’re a team like the Bills, which has endured some tough blows in their team history, there might be a couple.

But here’s a thought in regard to some recent Bills memory: What if Ryan Fitzpatrick was kept around to be EJ Manuel’s mentor?

Fitzpatrick recently appeared on the podcast run by his former teammate, Eric Wood, the What’s Next? Podcast With Eric Wood. Both parties reflected on their time together in Buffalo, and both agreed they thought the team did the wrong thing in this exact scenario.

“I know it was me in the situation… I have zero ego and… I don’t think it was the right move to get rid of me,” Fitzpatrick said.

The 2012 season was Fitzpatrick’s last with the team. After that year, the club decided to move in a different direction and fired head coach Chan Gailey. Then the Bills moved on from Fitzpatrick, cutting him and later drafting Manuel in the first round of the 2013 draft.

In 2011, Fitzpatrick got off to a hot start and landed a six-year, $59 million extension, with $10 million guaranteed. Fitzpatrick said he always will look back and have positive thoughts about his time in Buffalo, but he can’t help but think there was no reason for him to be let go, even if Manuel was drafted.

“To totally blow the thing up and say, ‘Let’s draft EJ Manuel in the first round’… No offense to EJ at all, but… to throw a young guy in there, and see what happens, and maybe a Kevin Kolb, was there or whoever [else]… I think I was a good fit for that situation, what they wanted to do,” Fitzpatrick said.

Oddly enough, that role Fitzpatrick is referencing is the exact one he’s going to play in 2020 with the Miami Dolphins. The Fins selected Tua Tagovailoa with the No. 5 overall pick at the recent draft. Fitzpatrick discussed on the podcast that he’s hoping to start, but no matter what happens, he’s looking forward to being a mentor.

But as referenced, Wood weighed in as well. The former longtime center for the Bills said he hears folks say he’s biased toward club that he spent his entire pro career with, however, Wood said he thinks the Bills got this one wrong.

“I rarely ever speak out against Buffalo Bills moves from the past, you know, it is what it is, but that is something, at that time, I was against, and I still am against. Because even if you want to move on from the quarterback position…. even if you move Fitz into a transition role or you’re going to draft a rookie quarterback, we’re already on the rookie wage scale. So these rookie quarterbacks are not going to make that much money, and so your combine salaries are still going to be below league average,” Wood said.

“You have a guy who could mentor your next guy coming in, or, let Fitz play, let the other guy come up, and let them compete and see who takes it. I was against it at the time and I still am against it,” Wood added.

Instead, the Bills went with Kolb and Manuel. Kolb was supposed to start for Buffalo until he infamously was hurt in training camp when he slipped coming onto the field and that was that. Manuel was up-and-down as a rookie in that first season, but eventually was injured. The ensuing season saw him lose his starting job after only four games and a 2-2 record to Kyle Orton.

Thankfully the road finally led the Bills to two playoff berths in the past three seasons, but there certainly is a big question here. What if Fitzpatrick was there to mentor Manuel? Could things have been different? An answer we’ll never know.

 

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Ryan Fitzpatrick wants to play, but will be Tua Tagovailoa’s ‘biggest cheerleader’

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on Tua Tagovailoa and 2020 NFL season en route.

Everyone knows where things stand with the Miami Dolphins and their quarterback situation. Ryan Fitzpatrick is no different.

Entering his 16th season and his second with the Dolphins, Fitzpatrick knows it’s just a matter of time before first-round rookie Tua Tagovailoa gets his shot. The veteran knows where he stands, he’s accepted that, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to give it his all to teach by example.

Fitzpatrick, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, his longest-tenured team for four seasons, jumped on the What’s Next? Podcast With Eric Wood. The two were teammates with the Bills. During the discussion, Fitzpatrick discussed the season ahead and the No. 5 overall pick in Tagovailoa.

“I’m really excited, I’m really excited that they drafted him. I’m excited because I watched him play at Alabama and he seems like he’s a pretty dynamic talent,” Fitzpatrick said. “For me, I’m his biggest cheerleader right now.”

But Fitzpatrick admitted there’s two sides to this coin. If he preforms well enough to make the Dolphins think it’s a smart play to let Tagovailoa learn from the sideline while watching Fitzpatrick in 2020… well, he isn’t going to mind that one bit.

“Hopefully some of the lessons I’m able to teach him are him watching me play, but if it’s the other way around, I’m going to do my best to help him to succeed in the best way that he can,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick also pressed how beneficial sitting back and watching, whether it’s early in training camp or during the regular season, can be for a young quarterback.

“I think part of it is, they have to take a backseat and watch,” Fitzpatrick said. “They have to watch how I operate… not to say what I do is perfect… but there are going be a lot of things they can pull from me that they like and there’s going to be some things they can pull from me that they don’t like and say, ‘I don’t want that.’ But I think that I have enough qualities that Miami has seen that they like and they would like another quarterback to have in them.”

But could it be realistic that Fitzpatrick takes the first snap of the 2020 season? Following the first round of the recent draft, Miami head coach Brian Flores was non-committal about whether or not the team’s multiple first-round picks would be Day 1 starters.

“I think that’s asking them a lot. I think we just take it day-to-day, and that’s the message I’m always going to send to all of our players, especially young players. There is a lot to learn as far as getting to know your teammates, getting to know our coaches, getting to know our terminology and how we do things. There is a lot to learn. So before we start talking about whose starting, whose playing left or right, I think for each rookie and really for every player, let’s just take this one day at a time and hopefully if we can string good days together, we’ll see some of the fruits of that labor,” Flores said.

So perhaps there will be a chance for Fitzpatrick to teach and play. Regardless, it appears Fitzpatrick is ready for the teaching aspect much more.

“I want to pass on all these lessons and experiences I’ve learned to younger guys because when I came in [the NFL], I had the same thing, guys that taught and showed me the way,” Fitzpatrick said.

 

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Eric Wood gave Ryan Fitzpatrick green light on DeSean Jackson gag

Former Buffalo Bills C Eric Wood, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on DeSean Jackson gag with Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the two were teammates with the Buffalo Bills, center Eric Wood and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick became close, a friendship that has lasted well beyond being teammates. When Eric Wood announced his retirement, Fitzpatrick notably was in attendance at the press conference, showing his support.

Most recently, the two connected on Wood’s post-career adventure, his podcast, What’s Next? with Eric Wood. Right off the bat in the episode, the two gave a surprise background on an all-time classic Fitzpatrick story.

In 2018, Fitzpatrick had a surprise start to the season during his time with the Buccaneers. Three 400-yard outings. Wood was pumped for his friend, and following one game, shot Fitzpatrick a congrats text as the story goes. Then things took a big turn, Fitzpatrick responded with a photo of his dressed in the clothes the belonged to his wide receiver, DeSean Jackson.

“I’ll never forget this moment,” Wood said. “I had texted you after one of your string of 400 (yard) games and said, ‘Dude, you killed it again. So happy for you,’ and you replied with a picture of you dressed in DeSean (Jackson’s) clothes and said, ‘Should I do it?’ And I’m like ‘Absolutely.’ Then we watch from my buddy’s house as you went to the podium for your press conference and made history.”

So moments before the Fitz-classic at the podium, Wood gave the green light. For those who forgot….

“That’s the missing piece to that story that not a lot of people know,” Fitzpatrick said. “I did have to get confirmation from you… I just wanted like a trusted confidant to tell me like, ‘Yeah, why not? Go for it.’ Cause I did… It was organic, like it just kind of came up, I thought it would be funny but you’re usually the guy that I test stuff like that.

“When you gave me the two thumbs up, I knew it would be a hit.”

And of course… the spin zone from Fitz on this one, in typical Fitzpatrick sarcasm:

“But then also I had a fall guy. If that did get taken [the wrong way] I would have said, ‘Well Eric made me do it’ so we were all good,” Fitzpatrick said.

 

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Where does Tua Tagovailoa stand on the Dolphins 2020 depth chart?

Former Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa is one of three quarterbacks for the Miami Dolphins. Though it is likely he won’t be the starter in 2020…

The Miami Dolphins had an interesting quarterback situation during the 2019 season. The team had signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick to a two-year deal, and they also traded for Arizona’s Josh Rosen, a 2018 first-round pick. Despite some back and forth, Fitzpatrick was the team’s starting quarterback.

After taking one of the most highly anticipated quarterback prospects in recent draft history, many would suspect the situation in the quarterback room would have subsided with a clear starter and backup emerging.

Well, the 2020 Dolphins’ depth chart at the quarterback position only gets more confusing after the addition of former Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It’s expected that Tagovailoa will take the role of starting quarterback in 2021, allowing time for him to learn the playbook, form relationships with his new receivers and fully heal from his hip injury.

Despite Tagovailoa claiming he felt “100%” in early April, it’s safe to assume the Dolphins will wait one more year before letting him get considerable playing time.

This also makes sense when considering the franchise’s rebuild is not yet complete. Miami has a considerable amount of early draft picks in 2021. They might as well save the quarterback of the future and stock up on more weapons for him.

Tua Tagovailoa
John Glaser-USA TODAY Sports

With that being said, Fitzpatrick is the expected starter come Week 1 vs. the New England Patriots on the road.

That begs the question, if Fitzpatrick goes down, who is the next man up?

Alain Poupart of Sports Illustrated has Rosen above Tagovailoa on the depth chart for 2020. Rosen as the backup would make sense, especially since they are trying to keep Tua as far away from the field as possible in 2020.

However, Poupart does acknowledge that there is a possibility Rosen isn’t even on the roster by the start of the regular season.

An interesting take from Brian Miller from PhinPhanatic states that Tagovailoa will still be the third quarterback on the depth chart, but will play behind Fitzpatrick. This assumption means that Rosen won the battle for QB1.

“Miami needs Rosen to beat Fitzpatrick and they need him to have a good year if he does,” Miller writes. “There is no long term future in Miami for Rosen but if they can showcase him to the rest of the league, they will have a tradeable asset that could bring them back decent compensation.”

At the end of the day, Tagovailoa is on the roster and is available to see live action if necessary. There might even be a few opportunities for him to see the field late in a game, much like how Mac Jones did in 2019 for Alabama.

Roll Tide Wire will keep you updated on Tua Tagovailoa’s journey through his rookie season with the Miami Dolphins.

Protecting Tua Tagovailoa is the key to Miami’s 2020 season

Last year the Miami Dolphins struggled to protect Ryan Fitzpatrick, as statistics illustrate. What can those numbers tell us about 2020?

(In this series, Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield takes a look at one important metric per NFL team to uncover a crucial problem to solve for the 2020 season. In this installment, it’s time to look at how the Dolphins struggled to protect passers in 2019, why that matters and how they are trying to rectify the issue).

The Miami Dolphins entered this past offseason with a number of holes to address on their roster, and a ton of resources at their disposal with which to patch those holes. The Dolphins entered free agency with a league-high $98 million available under the salary cap, and they put that money to good use, adding players like Kyle Van Noy, Byron Jones and Shaq Lawson in free agency.

Then come draft time, the Dolphins had a ton of draft picks available when the first night of the draft was underway. Miami had three first-round selections to play with, and similar to their cap space, the 14 picks available to them when the draft kicked off were the most in the league. They ended up using 11 of those picks, starting things off with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Only time will tell if those acquisitions will pay off for Miami, but a number – or even a series of numbers – might be more critical to the Dolphins in 2020 than the resources they put to use over the past few months. We can start here, with this number: 66.

That is the number of hits that quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick took last year, according to charting data from Pro Football Reference/SportRadar. That number tied Daniel Jones for the league-high in 2019. Mike Renner, from Pro Football Focus, brought this number into terrifying clarity for Dolphins fans:

There are other numbers which highlight the difficulties the Dolphins had in protecting their passers a season ago. Fitzpatrick was sacked 40 times last season, seventh-most in the league. His “pocket time,” according to PFR/SportsRadar was 2.3 seconds, which tied him for the lowest in the league with Drew Brees, Andy Dalton, Josh Allen, Mitchell Trubisky, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield. This statistic measures the time from snap to throw or pressure, so it does not completely measure pressure alone, but it is something to consider.

Turning to data from Pro Football Focus, we also know that Fitzpatrick was pressured on 230 of his dropbacks, which was sixth-most in the league among qualified passers. He was also pressured on 39.7% of his dropbacks, which was fourth-most in the league. The result of this pressure? Fitzpatrick had an Adjusted Completion Percentage of 59.9, which was 19th in the league among qualified passers.

Finally, there is the Pass Block Win Rate statistic from ESPN, which measures how long an offensive lineman – or an offensive line – can sustain their blocks for 2.5 seconds or longer. As a team, the Dolphins had a Pass Block Win Rate of just 28%, which was 31st in the league. Only the Detroit Lions, at 24%, were worse.

Now, we know that some of the resources available to the Dolphins this offseason were dedicated to fixing the offensive line. During free agency they added guard Ereck Flowers (coming off perhaps his best season in the league after a position switch inside) and center Ted Karras. Then in the draft they added tackle Austin Jackson with one of their first-round selections, guard Robert Hunt in the second round, and guard Solomon Kindley in the fourth round. They also added undrafted free agent tackles Nick Kaltmayer from Kansas State and Jonathan Hubbard from Northwestern State. Meaning there is a chance their 2020 starting offensive line is comprised of new faces at all five positions.

Now, simply changing out the players will not improve the Dolphins’ offensive line overnight. But there is also a scheme component to what Miami seems to be doing. Remember, they added Chan Gailey as their new offensive coordinator this offseason, and Gailey could be called the NFL’s “Godfather of the Spread.” He was the first to implement the spread offense in the league on a consistent basis, and you can expect the Dolphins to use more spread formations and quick route concepts – often working off of an RPO structure – in 2020.

That might be very familiar footing for Tagovailoa, who ran such a system the past few years under Steve Sarkisian at Alabama.

But there is an offensive line component to this as well. Kyle Crabbs, the Senior NFL Draft Analyst for The Draft Network also covers the Dolphins for both Dolphins Wire and the Locked on Dolphins podcast. Crabbs looked at the acquisitions the Dolphins made along the offensive line and has a theory, which has a ton of merit. The Dolphins are building a horizontal-based passing game that will mirror what Tagovailoa ran at Alabama. As Crabbs wrote at The Draft Network:

The Dolphins, with Tagovailoa as the trigger man, are going to physically challenge opponents by running power concepts into stretched boxes. Gailey has shown tendencies in the past of implementing a lot of 11 personnel and stretching the field horizontally. By doing so, Miami can gain advantageous numbers in the box and look to blow defenses off the ball. And, as an extension off of that, is likely to package its pass options onto those same power, lead and dive concepts and give Tagovailoa the opportunity to make defenders wrong — just as he did at Alabama in 2019.

Crabbs also expanded on the schematic ideas in Miami in a piece at Dolphins Wire, where he wrote this:

Some of Miami’s pieces, such as the offensive line and running game with Jordan Howard, look the part of an “Alabama” group. But we will need time to see if the chemistry is there for the unit to perform at a high level. The linemen brought in this offseason by the Dolphins certainly fit the bill and have a universal vision of powerful play at the point of attack.

It might take some time for this to get together, but the approach is smart and sound. The beauty of such an offensive approach comes in a variety of ways, but most notably this offensive system would continually put defenders into conflict (making the defense wrong almost no matter what they do) and it would lead to the Dolphins’ QB (whether Fitzpatrick or Tagovailoa) getting the ball out of their hands quickly after the snap.

And not due to pressure as the numbers from 2019 illustrate.

Hopefully for the Dolphins and their fans the plan comes together, and the woeful protection numbers from 2019 are a thing of the past. Otherwise, a number Miami fans might start to familiarize themselves with is 46.6, which was Tagovailoa’s PFF grade last year when pressured.

Miami fans do not want to go down that road, and neither does the team they root for.

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Why Ryan Fitzpatrick should start at QB for the Dolphins’ 2020 opener

Why Ryan Fitzpatrick should start at QB for the Dolphins’ 2020 opener

The Miami Dolphins have themselves a brand new quarterback in 1st-round pick Tua Tagovailoa — and everyone is going to have an opinion on when the right time is for Tagovailoa to enter into the starting lineup and serve as Miami’s signal caller. This process is still extremely early, but one thing we can surmise is that the Dolphins are going to tailor their offensive attack to Tagovailoa’s strengths as a passer; look for Miami to run the ball downhill and tag a lot of pass routes on the back end of these runs to allow for run-pass option concepts.

With an offense tailored to Tagovailoa’s strengths, could we see him get onto the field sooner rather than later? We certainly could, but there is also a lot of appeal for the Dolphins to keep Fitzpatrick behind center in the early chapters of the 2020 season.

The most appealing reason isn’t even tied to Tagovailoa’s November 2019 hip injury either — but rather in the fact that the Dolphins are almost sure to debut a brand new offensive line in 2020 with as many as five new starters across the front. With that many new pieces situated along the line of scrimmage, communication lapses are of high risk and an experienced quarterback who is well versed in Miami’s playbook would go a long way in providing a stabilizing presence.

Yes, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey is new to Miami after several years away from the game — but he coached Ryan Fitzpatrick in each of his prior two stops in the NFL, perhaps no quarterback knows Gailey’s offense better than Fitzpatrick. With that in mind and when considering all of the new pieces the Dolphins are going to be featuring up front, Fitzpatrick certainly seems like the sensible play to start the Dolphins’ season this fall.

His experience and leadership will provide a barrier and allow the Dolphins to play as efficiently up front as possible. And from there, the Dolphins can see where the season takes them. If the offense still struggles to get off the ground, then it may be time to revisit who is behind center. But at least to start, Fitzpatrick’s resume reads well as the man for the job early in 2020.

Throwback Thursday: Fitzmagic goes off against Saints in Week 1 of the 2018 season

Take a look back at Ryan Fitzpatrick’s memorable game against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season.

The NFL is set to release the 2020 schedule tonight, which means we’ll finally know who Tom Brady will face off against in his first game as quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While Brady’s first game as a Buccaneer will be a memorable one for sure, it may be hard for him to top the Week 1 performance of former Bucs quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who went off against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome back in the 2018 opener.

With Jameis Winston serving a three-game suspension, Fitzpatrick took over the offense for the Bucs, and threw for 417 yards, four touchdowns and zero picks against New Orleans, while also rushing for 36 yards on 12 carries with one score. The Bucs would go on to stun the Saints 48-40.

Take a look back now at highlights from that game.

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