Talking All Things Quarterback

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick turned 38 years old Tuesday, two days after he made his return to action for the Miami Dolphins.

And that action he saw in the 20-13 loss against the Denver Broncos sure created a lot of commotion and a lot of debate about the Dolphins quarterback situation, a conversation that continues two days after the fact.

In fact, what we have now is a situation unlike the one we had when the Dolphins made the switch from Fitzpatrick to rookie Tua Tagovailoa during their bye week, with a lot of valid questions and few definitive answers.

Was the QB switch Sunday the right move?

We've already discussed this, but we'll repeat what we said: If the goal is to try to win every game and try to make the playoffs this season, then it absolutely was the right move because Tua was not playing well, the offense wasn't moving the ball, and Fitzpatrick absolutely gave the Dolphins a better chance to win.

Shouldn't the Dolphins have allowed Tua to fight his way through his problems that day?

Again, this depends on what the top priorities are. If the priority is Tua's development, then the Dolphins absolutely should have left him in there. If the priority is to win the game, then this absolutely was the right move. And for those suggesting that Tua could have figured it out, what exactly had served as evidence up to that point that things were going to get better?

Is this season be about Tua's development or trying to make the playoffs?

That's a great question, and one that certainly wasn't answered when the Dolphins made the switch during the bye. Brian Flores kept saying during that time that it was the best decision for the team moving forward, though at no point did he suggest having Tua at quarterback was making the Dolphins a better team. Flores also shot back against the ESPN report suggesting the evaluation factor with an eye toward the 2021 draft as part of the reason for inserting Tua into the lineup, though it would make all the sense in the world for the Dolphins to want to know now if they have reason to address the QB position again in the next draft. Having Tua move into the lineup doesn't really mesh with the Flores we saw in 2019 when he was trying to win every game during a clear rebuilding year, draft position be damned. So the best guess is that this season is a combination of Tua's development and making doubly sure he's the right quarterback moving forward while trying to win and make the playoffs.

Didn't Fitzpatrick prove with his interception that he can't be trusted and that's one reason the Dolphins should have stayed with Tua?

Sure, that's easy to say now. And, of course, in hindsight it would have been better for Tua to get that experience if the Dolphins were going to lose anyway. But, again, the goal is to win games and Fitzpatrick actually gave them a chance. The offense clearly came to life after Fitzpatrick entered the game and showed exactly the kind of spark Flores said he wanted to see.

Are the Dolphins right to keep going with Tua?

They are because they made the decision to put Tua into the lineup already and there's just no way to go back on that move now.

How should we evaluate Tua's performance so far?

The passing numbers certainly don't look particularly impressive, with Tagovailoa held under 100 passing yards in two of his four starts. From this vantage point, he was very good, even excellent, against Arizona; very efficient against the Chargers; and struggled against the Rams and the Broncos. The best part of his resume is the six touchdowns against no interceptions, though it needs to be pointed out that Chargers linebacker Kenneth Murray let a pick go through his hands and an interception at Denver was negated by an iffy defensive holding penalty. The reality is also that the defense and special teams made life easy for Tagovailoa in his first three starts by essentially providing five touchdowns and the offense basically needed to not lose the game.

Where does Tua need to improve?

At the risk of stating the obvious, Tua truly looked like a rookie against Denver. He looked flustered by the pressure and what the Broncos were doing defensively. He'll need to be quicker with his decisions. It certainly would help if his receivers could create more separation downfield, but Tua may need at some point to trust his receivers to win one-on-one battles. That's something that Fitzpatrick never has been afraid to do.

Would the Dolphins have been better off staying with Fitzpatrick?

That's obviously a hypothetical question to which there will never be a definitive answer. But the games against the Rams and Chargers looked an awful lot like the ones against the 49ers and Jets that Fitzpatrick started and won. And there's reason to believe Fitzpatrick would have handled the pressure better in the Denver game. For those who like to point to Fitzpatrick's interceptions — and they can be a problem — don't forget that he threw two picks against the Jets and the Dolphins still won by 24 points. If we're being honest, it's really difficult right now to make the argument that the Dolphins are a better team with Tua at quarterback.

Should there be concerns about Tua?

It's really, really early for that. After all, Tua has only had four starts. But it's also fair to say his brief sample so far has been less than overwhelming and it certainly would be nice to see him have a breakout performance, say, something like 300 yards and three touchdowns.

Did the Dolphins make a mistake by selecting Tua over Justin Herbert?

This actually came up on ESPN this week, with Mike Greenberg and Dan Orlovsky both saying the Dolphins made that mistake. Talk about premature evaluation! While there's no question that Herbert has been the better quarterback so far this season, it's wildly unfair to be talking right now about whether the Dolphins made a mistake. Besides, it was just two weeks ago — after Tua's strong performance at Arizona — that Greenberg was saying, per fellow Dolphins beat writer Joe Schad, "Sign me for a future Super Bowl between Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa."

Mike Greenberg and Dan Orlovsky think the Dolphins made a mistake in drafting Tua and should have taken Justin Herbert pic.twitter.com/y30bRucwGb
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) November 23, 2020

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