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The Top Dolphins Stories of the Week
As the NFL's virtual offseason continues to roll along with players spread out across the country, it creates a smaller amount of news at this time of year than we'd normally see.
That said, there still were interesting developments this week.
1. Fitz talks Tua
We got the chance to hear veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's thoughts on the Dolphins' selection of Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Fitzpatrick's reaction, both on a podcast with former Buffalo Bills teammate Eric Wood and in a video conference call with South Florida reporters, was exactly what you'd expect.
In short, Fitzpatrick is excited about the addition of Tua, is ready to answer any and all questions Tua might have, but still wants to be the starting quarterback for the Dolphins.
2. Rookie linemen hit the field
Seven offensive linemen around the NFL spent the week in Arizona with agent Joe Panos in a "camp" of sorts, and three of them happened to be Dolphins players — second-year guard Michael Deiter and 2020 draft picks Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt.
Panos is a former NFL offensive lineman, and he came up with the idea of getting his clients some on-field work, with the blessing of each player's respective teams.
This can only help the three Dolphins players, regardless of how much.
3. The Parker-Thomas Instagram tiff
This actually was pretty silly when you think of it, but it involves two high-profile players like Michael Thomas and DeVante Parker, well, it's bound to make news.
It all began with an NFL on FOX Instagram poll asking which was harder to do: A) catching a pass while being covered by Stephon Gilmore or B) break up a pass while coveraging Michael Thomas.
Parker had a monster game against Gilmore, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, in the season finale and answered A.
Thomas, who set an NFL record for receptions in 2019, got all offended and started taking shots at Parker, who fired back.
Thomas came off looking awfully insecure in the exchange, as though any answer but B was acceptable.
4. The Rosen rumors
The arrival of Tagovailoa obviously has raised even more uncertainty about the status of quarterback Josh Rosen, and it couldn't have come as a surprise when he report surfaced that teams called the Dolphins to inquire about his availability in a trade.
As we explained in our story, though, it makes no sense for the Dolphins to just trade Rosen for the sake of trading him. Because of a team-friendly contract and his physical attributes, the Dolphins absolutely should keep him unless, as the saying goes, they get an offer they can't refuse.
5. Shut out in the top 100
The Dolphins had a grand total of zero players listed among the top 100 in the NFL in the annual list compiled by CBSsports.com NFL writer Pete Prisco.
Three Miami players did make his "just missed" list: Parker, Xavien Howard and free agent acquisition Byron Jones.
We're going to guess that Howard didn't make the list because he was injured last year because in 2018 he was easily a top five cornerback in the NFL. Parker led all AFC wide receivers in receiving yards (second among all AFC players behind only K.C. tight end Travis Kelce) and touchdown catches in 2019, so his exclusion was weird, particularly when you consider that JuJu Smith-Schuster was 38th in receiving yards in the AFC while playing 12 games and A.J. Green didn't play at all (so if he was included on the list, why wasn't Howard?).
The bottom line is it's one man's opinion and certainly subject to debate.
From this end, there's NO WAY that Smith-Schuster belongs on this list ahead of Parker and Howard also deserved to be on there, while Jones was a tougher sell.
