Former Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on Miami’s 3-0 start, Tua Tagovailoa and more

Ryan Fitzpatrick was like a lot of people when he heard the Dolphins were hiring Mike McDaniel to be their next head coach. He knew very little of the 39-year-old offensive savant who worked his way up the coaching ladder for the past decade. So, he started calling his counterparts around the league to find out about Miami’s new leader.

What kept coming up in discussions was “the genius of Mike McDaniel,” Fitzpatrick said, which he has seen displayed in the Dolphins’ 3-0 start to the 2022 NFL season.

Fitzpatrick, who played 17 seasons at quarterback in the NFL and two seasons in Miami, joined Amazon Prime Video as an analyst for “Thursday Night Football” and will provide commentary during pregame, halftime and postgame coverage. With the Dolphins playing the Cincinnati Bengals on the road Thursday night, Fitzpatrick gives his insight on the transformation of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins under McDaniel.

“[McDaniel] doesn’t come across as a lot of head coaches, they’ve got ego, they’ve got different things,” Fitzpatrick, 39, said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “I think it’s important at times when you get in tough games, you’re getting tough stretches where you’re losing, to be able to have that big personality is an important thing for a head coach, but it just seems like he’s very comfortable in who he is.

McDaniel’s impact on Tagovailoa has especially been tangible, as the third-year quarterback ranks second in the NFL with 925 passing yards and tied for third with eight touchdown passes. Fitzpatrick said he sees his former teammate benefiting from the change in scheme but also thinks Tagovailoa is being empowered more than ever.

“The confidence that is coming from those interactions is a big thing with him and his development,” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t think it hurts that they brought [wide receiever] Tyreek Hill on. Tua’s biggest thing has always been his accuracy, his placement with the football. So, you bring a guy that comes from a Shanahan system, that has led the league in run after catch for the last three or four years. You put a very accurate quarterback in that system. You put two incredibly dynamic receivers in [Jaylen] Waddle and Tyreek on the outside and I think we’ve seen the production.”

With a 3-0 start and a thrilling victory against the Buffalo Bills, who entered the season as the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl, the Dolphins have the attention of the rest of the NFL. How good can they be, though? Fitzpatrick noted that the team has won 11 of its last 12 games dating to the 2021 season. He thinks the Dolphins have finally found a “winning formula,” with a defense that confuses opposing teams with its blitzes and a dynamic offense.

“When you have explosive playmakers, where you can score at any moment from anywhere on the field, and you have a defense that is aggressive, it’s going to create turnovers for you,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s been a winning formula for them. And it’s been really exciting to watch.”