Where Miami Dolphins’ 2020 quarterback plans place Josh Rosen one year after big trade

The seven full weeks since the Miami Dolphins’ season ended have been full of quarterback talk.

That conversation has included ...

The news 2019 starter Ryan Fitzpatrick wanted to return in 2020 and the team wanted him back.

The news the Dolphins likely were not interested in Tom Brady as a free agent.

The Tua Tagovailoa Super Bowl week publicity tour. The news the Dolphins are intrigued by Justin Herbert. The idea the Dolphins might consider other quarterback options in the draft.

And the understanding (news) the Dolphins absolutely expect to take a quarterback in the 2020 draft with the idea he’ll be their franchise quarterback going into the future, according to what multiple sources are telling the Herald.

A lot of stuff, right?

But have you noticed what you haven’t heard amid all this talk and news?

The name Josh Rosen.

‘Memba him?

He’s still on the team. And he’s likely to remain, barring something unexpected.

But no one mentions him. No one discusses him.

Ask Dolphins leadership about the quarterback issue and I don’t recall anyone saying, “Our thinking begins with Josh Rosen and his future star potential.”

During the Senior Bowl week of practices, general manager Chris Grier was asked about how badly owner Stephen Ross wants to find a franchise QB.

“I think that’s from all of us,” Grier replied. “We’d like to find the right guy to be the quarterback. You see how important it is around the league. So I wouldn’t just say it’s Steve. It’s [head coach] Brian [Flores]. Myself. Coaching staff. Scouts. We think it’s important that we find the right guy, and the leader, to be the quarterback here for a long time.”

I missed the part he mentioned Rosen. Because he didn’t.

And I grant you Grier also didn’t mention Fitzpatrick or Jake Rudock. That’s because neither the 37-year-old veteran (Fitzpatrick) and the developmental player (Rudock) are Miami’s future franchise QB. We already know this.

And you probably should know it’s not the 23-year-old Josh Rosen, either.

The difference between Rosen and the other two guys, however, is he came to the Dolphins riding the possibility he could be that guy. He was a first-round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 and a highly publicized Dolphins addition last year at the cost of a second- and fifth-round pick.

And full disclosure: If one asks the Dolphins about Rosen specifically, they say all the right things both publicly in privately.

Grier was asked about both Fitzpatrick and Rosen specifically one day after the season and he loved on both guys.

“Josh has worked hard, just like Brian has been saying,” Grier said. “We see improvement every day in practice and his growth; so yeah, we’re excited about both of them.”

But that love never comes organically in the context of franchise QB talk.

The other issue is what the Dolphins say when prodded about Rosen does not often line up with what they do with Rosen.

Yeah, the Dolphins are “excited” about Rosen, but you just read they expect to select a franchise QB in April’s NFL draft.

Yeah, Rosen’s improving, but he didn’t get on the field in 10 of the final 11 games, including the final seven games in a row. The only time he played was at Indianapolis when game officials ordered Fitzpatrick to the sideline to be tested for a concussion.

Otherwise, Rosen was a game day ghost.

So you tell me...Does that sound like Rosen’s got a bright future with Miami?

I presented this scenario to a very good NFL personnel man Tuesday and his push back response was something about the last chapter has not yet written on Rosen and maybe the kid surprises.

That’s fair. Hey, anything can happen, I suppose.

But with every move the Dolphins make, Rosen’s chances seem to take a hit. His prospects of settling into an offense he could finally be comfortable with 2020, for example, were shattered when Flores fired Chad O’Shea as offensive coordinator.

So now Rosen will be learning another new offense under his fourth new NFL offensive coordinator. The guy will embark on his third NFL season and he’ll be learning his third NFL offense.

And guess what? The offense the Dolphins will be installing comes courtesy of new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. Gailey’s offense will be brand new to Rosen.

But that offense will feel like comfortable old jeans to Fitzpatrick, who played under Gailey and his offense in Buffalo and with the New York Jets.

So let me see if I understand this ... Rosen could not beat out Fitzpatrick when both were learning a new offense last year. But Rosen’s somehow going to that this year in an offense he has to learn from scratch, but Fitzpatrick knows even when blindfolded?

And Rosen’s going to perform this trick while that new first-round hope-for-the-future QB also is taking significant repetitions in practices?

Who believes this?

The truth is even some Dolphins fans who had high hopes for Rosen when he was acquired in April of 2019 have proven they no longer believe in the guy. How do I know this?

Late last year, when the Dolphins still had a chance to be bad enough to improve their ‘20 draft position, many fans that had high hopes for Rosen wanted the Dolphins to play Rosen after seeing him earlier in the year.

Why? Well, some just wanted to give him a chance.

But some thought it gave the Dolphins a better chance to lose. They thought playing Fitzpatrick was more likely to raise the Dolphins to success and a lower draft pick.

So playing Rosen was their suggested remedy for increasing the odds of failure.

Think about what those fans already believed about Josh Rosen.