A day after trading Ryan Tannehill, the Dolphins have signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to be their starting quarterback. There's some thought that Miami doesn't really want to win much in 2019; lose a bunch of games and select a franchise quarterback atop next year's draft. If so, it's debatable whether "Fitzmagic" will help or hurt that cause.
On the one hand, Fitzpatrick has at times been very productive. Including last year, when his seven starts for Tampa Bay produced 17 total touchdowns. Among quarterbacks who started at least eight games (I decided to sneak Fitzpatrick into that group), only three quarterbacks produced more touchdowns per start.
| QUARTERBACK TDS PER START, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Avg | Rk |
| Patrick Mahomes | 3.25 | 1 |
| Matt Ryan | 2.44 | 2T |
| Andrew Luck | 2.44 | 2T |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 2.43 | 4 |
| Drew Brees | 2.40 | 5 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 2.31 | 6 |
| Russell Wilson | 2.19 | 7 |
| Jared Goff | 2.13 | 8 |
| Baker Mayfield | 2.08 | 9 |
| Cam Newton | 2.00 | 10T |
| Philip Rivers | 2.00 | 10T |
| Tom Brady | 1.94 | 12T |
| Kirk Cousins | 1.94 | 12T |
| Deshaun Watson | 1.94 | 12T |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 1.93 | 15 |
| Carson Wentz | 1.91 | 16T |
| Andy Dalton | 1.91 | 16T |
| Jameis Winston | 1.89 | 18 |
| Dak Prescott | 1.75 | 19 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 1.69 | 20 |
That's the good in Fitzpatrick, earning him the colorful nickname. On the other hand, he's seldom been able to sustain that success for long -- and it generally comes with the negative of too many turnovers. Last year he threw 12 interceptions on 246 attempts, with his rate of 4.9% coming in as worst in the league among regular starters.
| INTERCEPTION RATE, 2018 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Int | Int% |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 246 | 12 | 4.9% |
| C.J. Beathard | 169 | 7 | 4.1% |
| Josh Allen | 320 | 12 | 3.8% |
| Jameis Winston | 378 | 14 | 3.7% |
| Nick Mullens | 274 | 10 | 3.6% |
| Sam Darnold | 414 | 15 | 3.6% |
| Josh Rosen | 393 | 14 | 3.6% |
| Ryan Tannehill | 274 | 9 | 3.3% |
| Andy Dalton | 365 | 11 | 3.0% |
| Baker Mayfield | 486 | 14 | 2.9% |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 434 | 12 | 2.8% |
| Cam Newton | 471 | 13 | 2.8% |
| Blake Bortles | 403 | 11 | 2.7% |
| Case Keenum | 586 | 15 | 2.6% |
| Marcus Mariota | 331 | 8 | 2.4% |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 675 | 16 | 2.4% |
| Philip Rivers | 508 | 12 | 2.4% |
| Andrew Luck | 639 | 15 | 2.3% |
| Brock Osweiler | 178 | 4 | 2.2% |
| Jared Goff | 561 | 12 | 2.1% |
| Patrick Mahomes | 580 | 12 | 2.1% |
| Nick Foles | 195 | 4 | 2.1% |
| Matthew Stafford | 555 | 11 | 2.0% |
| Tom Brady | 570 | 11 | 1.9% |
| Eli Manning | 576 | 11 | 1.9% |
| Derek Carr | 553 | 10 | 1.8% |
| Deshaun Watson | 505 | 9 | 1.8% |
| Lamar Jackson | 170 | 3 | 1.8% |
| Carson Wentz | 401 | 7 | 1.7% |
| Kirk Cousins | 606 | 10 | 1.7% |
| Russell Wilson | 427 | 7 | 1.6% |
| Joe Flacco | 379 | 6 | 1.6% |
| Alex Smith | 328 | 5 | 1.5% |
| Dak Prescott | 526 | 8 | 1.5% |
| Matt Ryan | 608 | 7 | 1.2% |
| Jeff Driskel | 176 | 2 | 1.1% |
| Drew Brees | 489 | 5 | 1.0% |
| Aaron Rodgers | 597 | 2 | .3% |
Most likely, Fitzpatrick will eventually play his way out of the starting job, especially if Miami chooses to draft a quarterback early. But I think his general productivity is a positive for the team's receiving corps, which will again include DeVante Parker. There might be plenty of interceptions, but there should also be some touchdown passes going around.
--Andy Richardson