The Dolphins’ much anticipated declaration of a starting quarterback came shortly after the team finished up the 2019 preseason with a 16-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints — with neither challenger stepping onto the field for the team’s 4th preseason game. And Brian Flores, as many suspected he would, named Ryan Fitzpatrick as the team’s starting quarterback for the team’s Week 1 contest against the Baltimore Ravens.
“After a thorough evaluation of OTAs, training camp, games, practice, we felt like (naming Fitzpatrick starter) was the best move for this team going into the season. Ryan has done a really good job from a leadership standpoint, an execution standpoint and we feel like that’s the best thing for this team,” said Flores.
The news was broke to each of the Dolphins’ contenders before the game against the Saints — leaving a small window for each player to process the news before talking to the media shortly after the game. Fitzpatrick’s leadership and quickness in his pre-snap mental processing seem to be the variables Flores covets most, as they’re feasibly the only areas that Fitzpatrick can claim to have outperformed Rosen in the public eye this August.
The rapid improvement of Rosen over the last two months is something that many teams would have yielded to — given his youth and potential to serve as a long-term solution at the quarterback position and free up assets to build the rest of the roster if the team likes what they see in 2019. But this isn’t most teams — Brian Flores has the luxury of time and he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to “rush” a young quarterback. Rosen will get his chance to start for Miami eventually this season. But the odds of it being enough of a sample size to dissuade Miami from investing early in a quarterback in 2020 are now looking nearly impossible — and then all bets are off for Rosen ever getting a chance to secure the gig once more.
Maybe the Dolphins will hold an actual quarterback competition the second time around, since this one was effectively just for show.
