Josh Rosen will make his first start at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 but is his future already set in stone at this point?
After the most disastrous 0-2 start to a season imaginable, the Miami Dolphins are making a change at quarterback. Josh Rosen will make his first start for the Fins in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys after the team traded a second-round pick for the quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Given how the first two weeks have gone, any change of consequence can’t hurt the Dolphins. They began the season losing 59-10 to the Ravens and somehow looked worse the following week, getting blanked in a 43-point loss to the Patriots.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was named the starter to begin the 2019 campaign and, on some level, it’s not hard to see why the veteran journeyman was benched. In two games, he went 25-of-50 for 274 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. And while Rosen hasn’t been much better (8-of-21, 102 yards, no touchdowns, one pick), perhaps getting him a full game at the helm will help the team improve.
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However, the timing of the switch at quarterback seems odd. Kyle Crabbs of Dolphins Wire broke down why making the move now is a questionable decision:
"When the Dolphins were still deciding between the two, we wrote about how Brian Flores had to choose between two ideologies. The first, which favored Fitzpatrick, was the process. Fitzpatrick, a seasoned veteran, was a master of the pre-snap process, identifying coverages and setting protections.The second favored Rosen: results. Rosen experienced more production on the field throughout the preseason and he also showed more traits. Mobility within the pocket, throwing on the move, velocity — all of these things favored Rosen.And Flores chose the process over the results, primarily because he had a young team that needed stewardship on the field."
It’s highly unlikely that Rosen has suddenly developed the leadership abilities of a player like Fitzpatrick over two weeks. Instead, this feels like a change for the sake of change. But in the wake of that, Rosen will have the opportunity to prove himself.
Make no mistake, you could put a Frankenstein’s monster combination of Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers at quarterback for the Dolphins right now and it may not make that much of a difference. Their roster is that depleted and downright atrocious. Having said that, Rosen experienced another horrible situation last year in Arizona. Seeing how he’s matured and progressed as a player, even if it doesn’t result in wins or a ton of success, is wholly worth keeping an eye on.
The question that must be asked, however, is if Rosen’s fate is already decided. The prevailing thought about the Dolphins is that they are purposefully combusting right now to hit reset on the franchise, which would likely result in taking a player like Tua Tagovailoa with the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. That would obviously make Rosen a lame duck at best and a backup at worst beyond this season.
Is there anything Rosen could do to change that, though? It’s near impossible for him to single-handedly make a roster as downtrodden as the Dolphins’ competitive. But if he shows real promise and progression as a prospect, would Miami reconsider taking a quarterback in 2020 and build around Rosen?
The sad truth is that’s a highly unlikely scenario. Rosen is almost surely a lame duck at quarterback and the Dolphins are auditioning him for perhaps another trade down the road. But unlikely and almost surely doesn’t mean definitely. There’s at least a fraction of a chance that Miami could be getting a look at Rosen now to see if he’s a viable leader for the future.
Though it may not be good football, the Dolphins are a fascinating team to keep an eye on in their current state. And Josh Rosen now helming the offense and how he subsequently performs, in addition to what his performance could mean, only makes that more so the case.