Ryan Fitzpatrick by the Numbers

Earlier this week, the Miami Dolphins announced that quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will begin the season as their starter as they head to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on Cam Newton and the New England Patriots.

This announcement adds yet another chapter to Fitzpatrick’s career. His journey started after being picked in 7th round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the then St. Louis Rams.

[NFL Throwback] November 27, 2005 – A legend is born. The St. Louis Rams were down to their 3rd-string QB, a clean-shaven 7th round rookie named Ryan Fitzpatrick. He would enter the game in the 3rd quarter and lead them to a 21-point comeback victory in OT over the Houston T… pic.twitter.com/C4uGI3EFFo

— Siva Kodali (@kodali_siva) May 23, 2020

After his stop there, the Harvard graduate then proceeded to suit up for seven other teams: the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the aforementioned Dolphins.

The one known as “Fitzmagic” has truly had a remarkable career. So after the announcement was made that he will be Miami’s signal-caller to start the season, it prompted to me do a deep dive. So without further ado, I present to you, Ryan Fitzpatrick: by the numbers.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has thrown for 32,886 yards: more than 18 Hall of Fame quarterbacks

This one is a little misleading just because of the fact that the game of football has changed so much. Example, even Mitch Trubisky has thrown for more total yards than hall-of-famer Arnie Herber.

But in the same breath, Fitzpatrick has also been able to out-sling legendary players like Kurt Warner, Terry Bradshaw, and Ken Stabler. For a 7th round pick, I’d say that is pretty damn good.

Fitzpatrick has thrown 210 career touchdown passes: more than Randall Cunningham, Steve McNair, Troy Aikman, and more

Like I said in the last section, the game of football has changed. There is a lot more slinging the pigskin around then there used to be. Still, that doesn’t make Fitz’s 210 touchdowns any less impressive. I mean, as of right now he is 38 ALL-TIME in passing touchdowns. Not bad for a football player from a school known more for diving into books, rather than hitting the gridiron.

Excluding Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, Fitzpatrick has out-earned every quarterback from the 2005 NFL Draft

Obviously Rodgers and Smith have made plenty of dough over their careers, but so has Fitzmagic. The QB has earned north of $71 million over his career. That’s more than Jason Campbell, Charlie Frye, Kyle Orton, Dan Orlovsky, and all the other quarterbacks drafted ahead of him (minus the studs at the top).

In 2015 with the Jets, Fitzpatrick threw for 31 touchdowns: something former first-rounder and Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco never did

I know that Joe Flacco isn’t a quarterback that really grabs people’s attention. Minus the 2013 Super Bowl run, he was pretty much an average quarterback. Still, Flacco was good enough for a great organization like the Baltimore Ravens to entrust him to be their franchise QB. Yet, Flacco was only able to top out at 27 passing touchdowns in a year (2014). Advantage? Fitzmagic.

Fitzpatrick has thrown a touchdown pass to nine different All-Pros

From Torrey Holt to J.J. Watt, Fitzpatrick has had the pleasure passing to numerous pro-bowlers. Some better than others, as indicated by the term “All-Pro”. Either way, Fitz was able to throw a touchdown pass to the following players that earned an all-pro distinction during their career: Torrey Holt, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Chris Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, and Brandon Marshall.

Over his career, Fitzpatrick has ran for 2,470 total yards: better than former third overall pick of the Cleveland Browns, Trent Richardson

ryan fitzpatrick, truck stick extraordinaire

pic.twitter.com/Hr7xFam797

— josh houtz (@houtz) August 17, 2019

Richardson obviously had a horrible NFL career that resulted in him leaving the league with the “bust” label. But Fitz (a 7th round quarterback) besting Richardson’s (a 1st round RUNNING BACK) career yardage total by 438 yards is unbelievable: just like the entirety of this legend’s career.

– Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)