Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Stills still raving about QB Rosen
DAVIE — Miami Dolphins standout Kenny Stills was a 20-year-old receiver, working out before the 2013 NFL draft, when 16-year-old sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen caught his eye.
Stills caught passes from Rosen at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, Calif., during a spring workout which ended with both players exchanging cell phone numbers to foster a relationship.
Stills was willing to be an older friend and mentor of sorts — if Rosen needed it — during his rise through UCLA before being the No. 10 overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals last April.
Their conversations, mostly by text, have revamped in recent days after Rosen joined the Dolphins in a draft-day trade last month, while their first encounter has become a fond memory they look back on now reunited in Miami.
“I just remember telling the receiver coach and the quarterback coach we were with that the kid had a bright future, and I’d probably be playing with him one day,” Stills said of Rosen shortly after a round of organized team activities Tuesday where he caught a touchdown from him.
“That was a joke, but here he is. … It’s kinda crazy how the world works.”
The Dolphins completed their fifth of nine OTA practices this month with Rosen and his new
teammates continuing to learn their new schemes under new coach Brian Flores and offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea.
Rosen also remains steadily behind 14-year veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick in the Dolphins offseason quarterback competition as Miami searches for its new starter to succeed former quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Rosen worked primarily with inexperienced, fourth-year quarterback Jake Rudock — a former St. Thomas Aquinas High standout — splitting second-team repetitions with other projected backups behind Fitzpatrick and the starters.
But the potential Stills saw from a young Rosen way back during their 2013 workout also appeared during Tuesday’s Dolphins practice session.
“As you progress high school, college into the league, you can tell the difference between quarterbacks with their timing and the way the ball comes out of their hand. And I was just impressed that he didn’t know me, and I didn’t know him, and we were able to get on the same page pretty quickly,” Stills recalled of Rosen.
“That’s really impressive for a young quarterback.”
Stills says he loves “really everything” about how Rosen throws the football.
“I don’t know the right word for it — but it doesn’t look like it’s coming fast, and then it’s right in front of your face,” Stills added. “You see it spinning well, and it has some velocity behind it.”
Dolphins receiver Brice Butler, preparing for his second season with the team, has some recent familiarity with Rosen as his quarterback.
“We’re just rekindling that flame we had last year in Arizona,” said Butler, a member of the Cardinals during OTAs and minicamp before his release after the preseason.
Butler says Rosen has shown some slight improvement in the last year, but he was quick to point out that Rosen — like so many Dolphins players — are learning the new offense they plan to run next season instead of playing freely.
“Obviously he has more experience, but it’s too early to tell,” Butler said insistently. “You don’t really know what’s going on with a guy until we strap up against another team.
“Right now, everybody is trying to learn the offense so nobody is really in their bag, per se. Everybody is trying to learn what the coaches want from us.”
Both Stills and Butler, along with the Dolphins coaches, acknowledged Fitzpatrick being the better of the two quarterbacks at this point in the offseason.
Fitzpatrick’s savviness as a longtime NFL veteran has paid early dividends.
“He’s had some experience with these formations and the terminology so it’s been easier for him than it is for us,” Stills said of learning the new offense alongside Fitzpatrick. “He’s been around the block a couple times.”
Rosen, on the other hand, needs more time to gain his footing in the quarterback competition this offseason with hopes of showcasing of his potential next season.
“He’s a great player and he has a bright future,” Stills said of Rosen. “Everyone is trying to learn the offense, build chemistry within the locker room.
“We’ve got guys here. We just have to come together and put it together on the field.”