Miami Dolphins
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The Miami Dolphins are only one day into their 2019 training camp under new head coach Brian Flores, but fans are already getting a taste of something they haven’t witnessed in more than a decade – a genuine quarterback competition. For the first time since Ryan Tannehill’s rookie season, where he eventually bested Matt Moore and David Garrard to be the Dolphins signal-caller, no one is quite sure which player will be the Dolphins’ quarterback come week one.
Welcome to one of the most important training camps in Miami Dolphins history, where seemingly nothing and everything is on the line.
To most fans and outsiders, it might feel like nothing happening at the Davie training facility at the moment is all that important. With zero expectations and no pressure to compete, a rebuilding season doesn’t exactly command a lot of intrigue. A closer look, however, reveals there’s more on the line now than there has been in quite some time.
Flores is the latest edition of a “fresh start” for owner Stephen Ross – at least his fourth since taking over lead ownership of the team. Ross, of course, is another handpicked CEO expected to change the Dolphins’ culture, right their longtime wrongs, and take the team to a place it hasn’t been since 1984: the Super Bowl.
If Flores fails (as Tony Sparano, Joe Philbin, and Adam Gase did in Miami), Ross might be inclined to throw up his hands, cash out, and sell the team in an admission he isn’t cut out for the business. He’s successful in real estate and pretty much everywhere else in life – taking the money and running off could be his next move.
On the field, the Dolphins have a lot riding on the quarterback competition between veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and second-year player Josh Rosen. If Rosen wins the job in August, enters the season as the starter, and shines, the Dolphins look like geniuses for trading a second-round pick for him on draft day.
Having a quarterback checked off the list would be a huge coup as the Dolphins head into next season’s draft with an embarrassment of riches.
