Miami Dolphins - 2020 Quarterback Rewind

After drafting Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth pick in last year’s NFL Draft, fans had high hopes for the Miami Dolphins this season. Despite his rehab, having no preseason, and his bumps along the way, there were plenty of takeaways from his unusual first season.

With 2020 proving maybe the Dolphins are farther along in their rebuild than they should be, let’s look back at the season position by position starting with quarterbacks.

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Nothing says professionalism quite like Fitzpatrick. He went out and did everything that was asked of him, played to the best of his ability, and mentored Tua along the way. With all the positivity he brought to the Miami offense, it was only a matter of time before Tua Tagovailoa took the reins.

Playing in 9 games and starting 7, Fitzpatrick would finish 183/267 for 2091 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He’d average 7.8 yards per completion, completing 68.5% of his passes.

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Tua Tagovailoa

All season long, all we’d hear about is how much better the Dolphins were with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center, but there’s not a clear winner statistically. Fitzpatrick might have been a tad more efficient on fewer attempts and threw the ball downfield slightly better but he didn’t exactly run away with the quarterback competition either.

Tagovailoa finished 186/290 for 1814 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Three of those 5 interceptions came in the last game when the Dolphins were getting destroyed by the Bills and Tua took more risks. He’d average 6.3 yards per completion, completing 64.1% of his passes.

Looking back on the season, fans weren’t giving Tua any credit and quickly wanted to turn the ball back over to Fitz while they were winning, which is understandable. However, between the two, Tua took care of the football much better while Fitzpatrick took more risks.

While their stats might be very similar, the difference between the two was rhythm. Fitzpatrick ran a faster offense and made decisions quicker and fans loved him for it. But that doesn’t mean he was the better quarterback. A 16-year veteran with his experience should be able to run an offense better than a rookie who rehabbed and had a preseason cut.

Without knocking either quarterback for what they were able to accomplish in year two of a roster tear down, the season would’ve ended the same no matter who was under center. Neither Fitz nor Tua would’ve won them enough to make a splash in the playoffs. Does that mean Miami should give up on Tua this offseason? Absolutely not.

With Tagovailoa firmly penciled as the starter, Fitzpatrick may have played his last down as a Dolphin so Miami needs to bring in backups this season. The only question is, will it be another veteran journeyman QB or draft a late-round rookie?