Miami Dolphins Roster 2019 Dolphins Roster

Top 3 Dolphins Roster Questions of 2019-2020

What can the Dolphins expect from Fitzpatrick?

Prior to acquiring Josh Rosen, Miami secured Ryan Fitzpatrick on a 2 year, $11 million deal that will likely prove to be a bargain. Fitzpatrick was the ideal backup in Tampa Bay and had one of the best stretches during the early part of last year. Filling in for Jameis Winston, he eventually started 7 out of 8 games and completed a career high 66.7% of passes and 17 TDs. However, those numbers did come at the cost of 12 interceptions as Fitzpatrick constantly tried to play hero ball and use the aerial attack to keep the Bucs in the game.

Coming to Miami, Fitzpatrick will be expected to be a mentor and the bridge quarterback until Rosen is ready to see game action. He’s the projected opening starter and will likely remain at that spot until Rosen is deemed ready or an unforeseen injury occurs. Fitzpatrick is a decent signal caller but by no means a quarterback the Dolphins hope to keep around for the long haul. Instead, expect Fitzpatrick to stick around for at least this season and potentially traded in the offseason if Rosen is named the starter for next year. 

Is Josh Rosen a franchise QB?

With the #1 overall pick in the draft, the Arizona Cardinals had a few different directions they could go. Eventually, they selected Kyler Murray which meant Josh Rosen would be relegated to backup duties in the early part of his career. In an effort to return some value on their former first round pick rather than see his prime years go to waste on the bench, the Dolphins swapped a second round pick in exchange for his services. While Rosen has yet to find much success at the NFL level, he’s a potentially high reward option at Qb that could eventually become Miami’s franchise signal caller in the next year or two. 

Even if he busts, Rosen remains on a rookie deal at one of the highest paid positions in the league. In his first year, Rosen saw starting action in 13 games but failed to do much in those contests. The 3-10 record surely aren’t inspiring but in an Arizona offense that saw a dip in production from the RB spot and the only solid receiver in Larry Fitzgerald, Rosen wasn’t too bad. He’ll surely have to work on his completion percentage and decision making that saw him complete 55.2% of passes and a 11-13 TD/INT ratio. 

Why let all the big names go?

While most teams spent money trying to upgrade their roster and become better than last season, the 8-8 Dolphins took a different approach. They let franchise veterans Ryan Tannehill, Cameron Wake, and Ja’Wuan James all walk, among others. They then proceeded to bring in a pair of quarterbacks, Eric Rowe, and Dwayne Allen to fill those holes in the lineup. First off, that’s clearly a lot of talent being lost in those names and the players being brought in aren’t exactly household names. 

While there’s going to be some talented players on the field next year, Miami is undoubtedly going to be one of the worst teams in the league. They simply lack the firepower to compete with their divisional foes and don’t have enough established pieces to make a playoff run. Armed with 11 picks in next year’s draft, the Dolphins are much better suited if they were to tank and secure higher order selections for their team moving forward. If they pick correctly in next year’s draft, they could form a very nice core moving forward.