Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins’ starting QB (as of now), might be peaking at age 36

Ryan Fitzpatrick hasn’t just been the best quarterback in Dolphins camp this summer.

He has been better than himself.

“The last five, six years, I’ve gotten better every year,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday after Day 5 of training camp. “I think right now, I’m seeing it better, I’m throwing it better. I’m just understanding stuff a lot better than I ever have, and that’s what makes it an exciting opportunity.”

Head coach Brian Flores seems to agree.

Hours earlier, Flores broke with tradition and established a front-runner in the Dolphins’ quarterback battle.

“From a quarterback standpoint, it’s pretty clear to me that Ryan Fitzpatrick is leading the way,” Flores told reporters. “... He’s been more productive. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.”

Flores’ admission was surprising only because he went there at all, not because of who he listed as the leader.

Fitzpatrick has been better than Josh Rosen throughout the spring and summer. And it has not been close.

Offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea puts a heavy burden on the quarterback — Rosen likened his spring practices to “drinking water through a fire hose” — and his offense exposes players who aren’t fluent in the system.

For example: Rosen for the first time in his career has been asked to make Mike calls (setting the protection by identifying the opposing defense’s middle linebacker).

And until he gets more comfortable, Rosen will still be doing more thinking than playing — which will negatively impact his play.

On Tuesday, Rosen was way late on a throw in team drills that could (and should) have been picked twice.

“Coach’s offense is exciting because of how much power it puts in the quarterback’s hands,” Rosen said. “I haven’t been able to take complete advantage of it, because I’m still kind of fighting against myself in certain moments. But to see Fitz and his ability to walk up to the line of scrimmage and damn near know exactly where everybody is and have the power in the offense to change things, I’m looking forward to getting to that level and be able to have that control.”

Put another way: The game seems a lot simpler for Fitzpatrick than it does for Rosen.

And that makes sense, considering Rosen was in grade school when Fitzpatrick broke into the league.

But Mother Nature usually has a sense of fairness. Veteran players know more because they’ve seen more, yes. But they usually cannot do the same things physically that they did earlier in their careers.

That might not be the case with Fitzpatrick.

He just might peaking at age 36.

Seriously.

“I don’t think anybody’s ever going to put on tape and say, ‘Hey, we want your form to look like this guy,’” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s not really who I am. But I really have honed in on things that make me more accurate and just worked on some stuff, with myself. I know myself well enough to know when it’s going to be a good throw or a bad throw. I feel more comfortable with myself and my game right now than I ever have.”

The stats suggest he might be right.

In 14 games with Buccaneers last year, he led the league in yards per attempt (9.6), yards per completion (14.4) and net yards per attempt (8.8).

Those aren’t Pro Bowl numbers. Those, if sustained over the course of a career, are Hall of Fame numbers.

But that’s only part of the reason Dolphins coaches love him so much.

He also does the right things when the cameras aren’t rolling. Like running out in front of the quarterbacks during post-practice gassers Tuesday, or throwing a dozen or so end-zone out-routes to Kenny Stills when most of their teammates had already gone inside to cool down.

“Just got to continue to put the work in,” he said. “Work even harder, in terms of just gaining the respect of the guys, gaining the confidence and trust of the guys on the practice field. I have been through a lot in my career to know that it all depends what you do every single day. You can’t harp on what you did in the past or in the last game. I think nothing is given in this league. I never take any of these opportunities for granted.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 3:04 PM.