Many probably don't remember at this point that Fitzpatrick entered the league as a 7th round pick by the then St. Louis Rams from Harvard. He actually entered the NFL hyped as one of the smartest players to ever take the wonderlic test scoring a reported 48 out of 50 despite taking the test in just 9 minutes. The only player to ever score higher was another Harvard graduate. Fitzpatrick was just the 14th player drafted out of Harvard since 1967. Of those 14, 5 never made an NFL roster meaning Fitzpatrick simply by making the opening day roster became 1 of just 9 players to do so since 1967, and the only QB on the list to do so. Things would continue to be unusual for Fitzpatrick his rookie year.
In year 1 he competed with Jeff Smoker to be the 3rd string qb behind starter Marc Bulger and veteran backup Jamie Martin. In week 6 Bulger suffered an injury, making Martin the starter and Fitzpatrick the primary backup, however by the end of November, Fitzmagic would put up his first big game. Coming off the bench in the second quarter he managed to lead the Rams back from a 24-3 deficit at halftime ultimately winning the game 33-27 in overtime having completed 63% of his passes for 310 yards 3 tds, 1 int and a 117.4 qbr. However he quickly follow the typical trend for his career and crash back to earth over his next 4 games. He ultimately wound up completing just 56% of his passes for 777 yards, 4 tds and 8 ints. For anyone keeping score that means he managed just 467 yards, 1 td, and 7 ints over his 4 starts. Not exactly what anyone expected after the hot start. He would finish his career with the Rams on the bench before being traded to Cincinnati in the middle of year 3 to back up oft injured Carson Palmer.
Year 3, team number 2. After the Bengals surrendered a 7th round pick in exchange for Fitzpatrick he came into year 3 as the primary backup in 2007 but didn't see any time on the field. Heading into 2008 Fitzpatrick was a restricted free agent but signed his tender to return to the Bengals. Palmer missed several games due to elbow soreness on his throwing arm. Fitzpatrick came off the bench and somehow still ended up 3rd in the NFL for rushing yards by a QB. He managed 13 games, just under 60% completion rate, 1,905 yards 8tds and 9 ints adding 304 rushing yards and 2 tds. Not bad for his first year starting more than half a season as a 5th year former 7th round pick. Or at least that's what Buffalo must have thought.
Buffalo came knocking on Fitzpatrick's door looking for a veteran QB that could help mentor 2nd and 3rd round picks in Brian Brohm, and Trent Edwards. He spent 2 seasons ahead of these guys before Buffalo moved on and brought in Tyler Thigpen, Vince Young, and Tarvaris Jackson over the next two years. None of which unseated Fitzpatrick. He played in 59 of 68 games over 4 seasons, completing just under 60% of his passes for 11,654 yards 80 tds, 64 ints adding 175 carries for 822 yards and 2 tds. However Buffalo fired Chan Gailey and with that decided to part ways with Fitzpatrick as well. Due to this he was released on March 12th, 2013 just before the draft.
This marked the beginning of his stint with the Titans. At this point he was viewed pretty much as he is now, a veteran fringe level starter or top level backup. The Titans viewed him as insurance for the often injured Jake Locker. Ironically Fitzpatrick would wind up starting 9 games and playing in 11, more than Locker. He completed 62% of his passes for 2,454 yards 14 tds, 12 ints, 43 carries, 225 yards and 3 tds. Not mind blowing stats but not enough to warrant being released 1 year into a 2 year contract but that's exactly what happened. This is most likely because of another head coaching change from Mike Mularkey, to Ken Whisenhunt. Which left Fitzpatrick on the open market for the third time.
Fitzmagic was a free agent for just 4 days signing with the Texans under new head coach Bill O'Brien. He was creating a competition between Case Keenum, Ryan Mallet, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and rookie Tom Savage. This was also when the Texans finally moved on from longtime starter Matt Schaub. Despite highs such as a 6 touchdown game against the team that abruptly cut him the Titans. He finished the season with 2,483 yards 17 tds, 8 ints and a 95 qbr. Coming off of one of the better seasons of his career it would have been no surprise to see him return to Houston, except this is Ryan Fitzpatrick we are talking about, and he was traded less that 1 year later to the New York Jets.
A new era in his career, heading into year 11 and on his sixth team officially a journeyman, having started games for 3 teams in 3 years and was about to make it 4 for 4. He was asked to come in and compete with former 2nd round pick Geno Smith, who really stood no chance. Fitzpatrick was reunited with Chan Gailey who led him to success in Buffalo. He came through again and helped Fitzpatrick start 16 games completing just under 60% of his passes for 3,905 yards 31 tds, and 15 ints, adding 60 carries for 270 yards and 2 tds. His best season yet, and enough to lead the Jets to a 10-6 record. He would be handed the job again in 2016, which immediately led to another Fitzpatrick moment where he fell on his face. Despite playing in 14 games he completed just 56% of his passes 3% less than the previous season, that wasn't the only thing that dropped. His 31 td passes from last season? A distant memory by the time 2016 closed and Fitzpatrick had racked up 2,710 yards, 12 tds, and 17 ints, adding just 130 yards on the ground this year. However this drop in performance would mark the end of his tenure with the Jets. As you can imagine this season ended poorly with coordinator Chan Gailey, qbs coach Kevin Patullo, and Ryan Fitzpatrick all gone. This began a series of 2 year stints with various teams.
At this point just to catch up with the overall picture of Fitzpatrick as a passer he is heading into his 13th season, having played for and started games with six different teams over that stretch. He had played the role of backup, competitor, veteran mentor, and unquestioned starter throughout his career, which helped him to some impressive career statistics that help showcase his ability to truly absorb and play in just about any scheme quickly. He had played in 127 games throwing for 25,888 yards 166 tds, and 133 ints. He had a win loss record of: 46-69-1, and had at this point sunken to more of a backup level quarterback due to his poor performance with the Jets.
In 2017 the Buccaneers signed Fitzpatrick to a 1 year deal. signed as the backup to top overall pick Jameis Winston, behind Fitzpatrick this time was only undrafted rookie free agent Sefo Liufau who landed on the practice squad. Fitzpatrick would go on to play in 6 games putting up backup level stats in Koetter's offense finishing the year with 1,103 yards 7 tds 3 ints.
In 2018 the Buccaneers decided to bring him back on a 1 year extension, again as the primary backup. However shortly after Fitzpatrick signed the first contract extension of his career, Winston was suspended 3 games leading Fitzpatrick to start games for the 11th straight season. He started off extremely hot with a 156.2 qbr after tossing 4 tds passes, a career high 417 yards and adding a rushing td. In week 2 Fitzmagic continued the run he beat the Eagles adding another 4 td, 400+ yard performance and a 144 qbr. 2-0 headed into Pittsburgh Fitzmagic was on fire, and the problem with gun slinging qbs who are on fire, they typically are overdue for a tough game. In this case Fitzpatrick threw 3 tds, with 3 ints to match, while again topping 400 yards becoming the first player to throw for 400 yards in 3 consecutive games. In week 4 he started again but the magic had worn off and this week he threw for just 127 yards and 1 int. Bringing his season totals to over 1300 yards, 11 tds to 5 ints through just 4 starts. Yet Winston returned and to the Bucs credit they stuck with the young guy which in my opinion was the right move for Winston's development as a player. However the faith was short lived as Winston was benched after throwing 4 interceptions against Fitzpatrick's former team Cincinnati. Fitzpatrick came on strong and led the offense to 18 unanswered points to tie up what had been a 34-16 affair. He would lose on a last second field goal but the job was his now....at least for a few weeks as Fitzpatrick was benched after throwing 3 ints. This would mark the last of his 8 games in 2018 totalling 2,366 yards, 17 tds 12 ints. Fitzpatrick's contract had ended and he would become a free agent after the 2018 season. It should come as no surprise that Fitzpatrick moving on was partially spurred by a coaching change.
In 2019 Fitzpatrick was again asked to mentor a young former first round pick but at the same time was competing for the starting job with said player. Not exactly the correct environment for a mentor situation obviously. That team, and the player was the Miami Dolphins,and Josh Rosen. Ironically the poor play of both Rosen and Fitzpatrick led to several QB changes, and the eventual 3-13 record that gave them the #2 pick allowing them to draft Tua. In comes Tua, out goes Rosen. Fitzpatrick stayed for the 2020 season again intended to be a mentor to Tua as he learned. Fitzpatrick held the starting job for 7 weeks before moving on to the rookie, however they used a bizarre two QB system at times where Fitzpatrick would come in at the end of games to finish out the fourth quarter. It ended with Fitzpatrick playing in 9 games, with 7 starts setting a career high in completion rate with 68.5%, 2,091passing yards, 13 tds 8 ints, 30 carries for 151 yards and 2 tds, also logging the third reception of his career on a pass from himself after it was swatted by a Jaguars defender. It resulted in no gain but with that catch became the first player since Walter Payton to throw two touchdowns, rush for one touchdown, 20+ rushing yards, and a reception in one game. Fitzmagic seems to find ways to grace the record books even if he only plays average. In 2021 the Dolphins chose to move on from Fitzpatrick allowing him to head to his 9th team and replacing him with Jacoby Brissett.
Fitzpatrick was easily one of the better free agent quarterbacks this offseason even though you never would have known, with all the talk of the guys who were available via trade, Matt Stafford, Carson Wentz, Aaron Rodgers, or Deshaun Watson. However Washington was searching for a veteran option to compete with former Panthers Taylor Heinicke, and Kyle Allen. This might be his most interesting QB battle of his career yet.
On Washington's roster are Heinicke, and Allen, two quarterbacks that may not be the most polished or talented players but he has experience with them. Heineke first played for Ron Rivera in 2018 with Carolina. However Heinicke had started his career in 2015. Having gone undrafted he signed with the Vikings to compete with current QB coach for the Chiefs Mike Kafka. Kafka suffered an injury paving the way for Heineke to make the team. Heinicke spent the 2015, and 2016 seasons as the third string QB in Minnesota. After an injury settlement in September of 2017 he was waived and moved on to Houston where he attempted his first pass before suffering a concussion and ultimately being let go. This is when he finally latched on with Carolina. He went on to play in 6 games completing 61% of his passes for 320 yards 1 td, 3 ints. Adding 31 rushing yards on 6 carries. He was eventually injured, and sent to IR. This is when Kyle Allen stepped in for Carolina and begun to win the backup job. Heinicke would resign for the 2019 season but ultimately get cut and remained unsigned. In 2020 he was one of many who jumped into the XFL. He was allocated to the St. Louis Battlehawks and wound up backing up Jordan Ta'amu. This time with the XFL is basically what led to Heinicke being available when the time came for Washington to move on from Dwayne Haskins. Heinicke signed with Washington's practice squad in December was elevated to the roster 11 days later he wound up replacing Haskins who was benched in the 4th quarter of the game against the Panthers. Haskins was released the following day, leading to Heinicke starting the wild card playoff game. He completed 26 of 44 passes, for 1 td, 1 int, added 1 rushing td and helped lead the team to 23 points against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Bucs. He was resigned after the season.
Kyle Allen was an undrafted free agent in 2018 starting his career with the Panthers and Ron Rivera on the practice squad before being promoted to the active roster. He made his first career start in week 17 against the Saints. He went 16 of 27 for 228 yards 2 tds and 1 rushing td paving the way for him to beat out Heinicke for the primary backup job in 2019. A job he would ultimately win pretty easily after his performance. This would be key as he would go on to make his first start of 2019 in week 3 after a shoulder injury shut down Cam Newton. This would result in Kyle Allen stepping as the QB1 until Cam got healthy. He would end up playing in 13 games. He threw 489 passes completing 303 for a 61.96% completion rate, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt for 3,322 yards with 17 tds and16 ints. Adding 100+ rushing yards and 2 more tds. Ultimately after the 2019 season when Rivera was fired he swung a trade for Allen to join him in Washington sending Carolina a 5th round pick. Allen came on strong in Washington starting 4 games after they benched Haskins. He would end up dislocating his ankle resulting in Heinicke being signed. During his 4 game stretch he completed 69% of his passes, for 7 yards per attempt, totalling 610 yards, 4 tds, 1 int, adding a rushing td. Extremely solid performance that showed he can cut down on turnovers the one knock on him as a starter. However if any team will give him a chance to continue his progression its Washington under Rivera where he has spent his entire career to this point. Allen was resigned to his restricted free agent tender and will compete in 2021.
So we have two former undrafted free agents who both started games and gained a cult following in the process last year. They then go out and get the veteran Fitzpatrick who also has a significant group of fans rooting for him to take the job. This is by far the most interesting QB battle this offseason because while I expect Fitzpatrick to win, Allen and Heinicke are definitely going to be given an actual chance despite backgrounds that don't typically lend themselves to being a starter in the NFL.
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