DAVIE – The best that can be said about the Dolphins’ quarterback competition approaching the first preseason game is that now we have a horse race.

It was premature to draw conclusions after the first week when upstart Josh Rosen was struggling. It is too soon to say the touted but suspect newcomer has answered any significant questions by a much better second week capped by some eye-opening moments in the first team scrimmage.

Coach Brian Flores reinforced that point before Monday’s training camp session.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement from a lot of guys. He’s one of them. But he’s still got a long way to go,” Flores said.

“By no means are we anointing him or crowning him. He’s stung a couple good days together … Hopefully he continues on this trajectory.”

Fitz still the starter

The first unofficial depth chart has been posted and veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick is listed as the starter, as he should be. But that is etched in tissue paper with the whole exhibition season just beginning Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Rosen has gotten himself into the picture in the past week since Flores said that Fitzpatrick was the clear frontrunner.

Part of that has been improvement by Rosen. Another factor has been Fitzpatrick showing why he is a journeyman on his eighth team: career inconsistency.

That is who Fitzpatrick is, and at 36, what he will continue to be. Which is not necessarily bad, just not a foundation for winning championships.

Of greater interest for the preseason and beyond will be finding out what Rosen can be.

Last week shed light on why Rosen was lagging so far behind in the early practices when he revealed that he was having to learn a new process for identifying defenses than in offenses he has played in before.

When that learning curve started to level off, Rosen began making quicker and better decisions, and letting his talent emerge.

Is standout talent evident?

So he’s showing signs of being able to compete for the starting job. What he has yet to show is the qualities of being special.

That was the point in dealing second- and fifth-round draft picks to Arizona — the hope that Rosen can prove worthy of the estimation that made him the 10th overall selection in the 2018 draft.

He failed to do that as a rookie with the Cardinals.

Defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, chosen by the Dolphins one pick after Rosen in that draft, said there are some encouraging signs from a defender’s perspective.

“He’s a good quarterback, man,” Minkah Fitzpatrick said after Monday’s practice. “He gets the ball down the field really well. You’ve seen today and other days, he puts the ball in windows real nice, has a good eye. He takes chances, which is a good thing as a quarterback — you can’t play too safe.

“Obviously, you don’t want to [try to] do too much. But he’s a good quarterback and he’s going to keep growing in this system and keep making plays.”

Notably, Rosen was critical of himself for throwing a risky pass in Saturday’s scrimmage that went for a touchdown to Isaiah Ford.

“That’s one of those plays where, in retrospect, everyone sees, ‘Oh yeah, cool, it was a touchdown,’ but it definitely should have been a pick,” Rosen said. “That’s definitely something that I’ve got to take and realize that it’s first-and-goal in the low red zone and I’ve got to be smarter than that.”

Self awareness is admirable, and encouraging from Rosen. He arrived with a reputation for being inclined to sling passes where perhaps he shouldn’t.

Leader status must be earned

That is only one of many areas where Rosen must improve to cement a future with the Dolphins. Questions about leadership ability and inspiring trust from teammates also followed him to South Florida.

“You don’t just walk into a place and say, ‘I’m the leader.’ It’s something you have to earn,” Flores said. “He’s got to earn the respect of his teammates. I think he’s doing that.

“Right now I don’t think there’s anything about Josh that’s holding him back. I think it’s a learning process.”

It’s to Rosen’s advantage that there aren’t many established veterans on this team. Most of these Dolphins are in the same category with much to prove.

As for what it would take to make major strides forward, Flores stuck with his theme of incremental progress.

“I think the one thing is … you start to focus on what you did the last practice, you lose a little bit on today. He’s just got to keep stringing them together.

“Yesterday only matters if you build on it today. … We still have the preseason games ahead of us. We still have a lot of practices ahead of us.”

Expect to see plenty of Rosen during the exhibition season. The real Dolphins quarterback race begins Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

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With the Dolphins going through their fifth straight day of training camp with full pads, it’s clear that head coach Brian Flores isn’t shy about physicality. It’s also clear that the way he does things differs greatly from the past two coaching regimes. In doing this, evaluation becomes that much clearer because there’s no more need to put an asterisk next to everything. They’re being physical. They’re being aggressive. And above all, execution continues to be key. Of all the things that happened on day seven, that stood out the most.

So which players stood out the most as Miami goes all out in practicing and preparing for every possible contingency? Here they are.

Xavien Howard, CB

This should come as a surprise to no one, but Xavien Howard continues to be a lockdown corner. Now, this doesn’t mean he’s been flawless, even Hall of Fame make mistakes. But Howard has made the jobs of quarterbacks and wide receivers much harder in camp. This is a good thing, by the way. During Thursday’s practice, Howard broke up a pass intended for Preston Williams, and then jumped a route intended for DeVante Parker and intercepted it.

He was called for defensive holding on that play, but hey, it’s training camp.

The fact remains that Howard has been his usual elite self, giving receivers someone to really push themselves against. The better the competition, the harder they have to work to perform. They don’t come much better than Howard, and Parker and Williams will be better for it…mostly Williams.

Shaq Calhoun, G

The undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State has been getting starter snaps since the firing of Pat Flaherty. He – along with Michael Deiter – has been doing a fairly good job on that unit. That continued on Thursday. Calhoun is playing solid football at right guard under the tutelage of Dave DeGuglielmo. One has to wonder what Flaherty was looking for if all it took was a coaching change for two young players to shine.

Lots of draft pundits had Calhoun listed as a potential NFL starter before the draft, citing his grit, intensity and ability to surprise defenders by being more athletic than he looks. So far, it looks like things are going well for Calhoun. We’ll see if his development continues.

Brian Flores, HC

This might seem like a cop out, but what has stood out a lot these past several practices is how coach Flores is handling training camp. He isn’t a player, but he’s performing beyond initial expectations. His training camp is focused on execution, and if you don’t get it right, you have to fix it. It doesn’t get glossed over. Thursday, Flores also began running situational scenarios that the Dolphins have not done in some time.

They worked on hurrying to the line of scrimmage and stopping the clock, even the field goal unit got in there and worked on getting to the line of scrimmage, with Matt Haack spiking the ball. Every possible scenario is worked on, including Hail Mary passes. That dedication to any possible scenario being practiced is not something that’s been seen in years. Flores may not be in uniform, but he’s performing top notch so far.

Hopefully it continues when the bullets are live.

As someone that was in the building during the final hour before the MLB trade deadline, I saw how surreal it was to see someone in uniform prepare for a game that they were not going to play because they were about to pack their bags and move out of town.

Marlins rookie reliever Nick Anderson was warming up with a rag with his teammates prior to Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. He received closing considerations during the aftermath of the Sergio Romo trade. Within minutes he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays along with Trevor Richards for outfield prospect Jesus Sanchez and right-hander Ryne Stanek.

Stanek was known more as the “opener” in Tampa Bay but will most likely be viewed as a stabling force in the back end of the bullpen. However, he was placed on the 10-day injured list on July 20 for right hip soreness. He was the Rays’ first round draft pick in 2013 and recorded 61 strikeouts in 55.2 innings with a 1.15 WHIP prior to the injury.

Zac Gallen was also traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm. In those trades, the Marlins received Arizona’s No. 1 prospect and Tampa Bay’s No. 4 prospect, which serves as a victory for the front office’s longterm mission.

“We continued on that path with the trades we made, with Lewin Diaz and Jazz Chisholm and Jesus Sanchez,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. “Left-handed bats are at a premium. In our organization, we felt like we were very right-handed.”

The trades came after the Marlins used their two first round MLB draft picks on left-handed-hitting outfielders JJ Bleday and Kameron Misner. Second baseman Isan Diaz was Miami’s primary left-handed-hitting position player at the upper levels going into the season. Hill noted that these moves balances the talent pool in their organization.

“When you look at our prospects, aside from Isan Diaz, Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, those guys are all right-handed at the upper levels,” Hill said. “We just wanted to create a little balance to our lineup, our future lineup, our championship lineup.”

There Marlins were unable to trade Starlin Castro, Neil Walker and Martin Prado, veteran infielders with expiring contracts. means the Marlins will have veteran players in the final years of their contracts on the roster for the rest of the season.

#marlins manager Don Mattingly after the trade deadline. A total of three pitchers were sent away for one big league pitcher and two high caliber prospects. pic.twitter.com/36695F8O7n

— Tony Capobianco (@TonyCapobianco) July 31, 2019

Manager Don Mattingly said he will speak with players individually to let them know where they stand.

“Just let them know what we think the situation is,” Mattingly said. “I’ve found in the past, being up front, being straightforward with guys … It could be Starlin. It could be Walker. It could be Martin. It could be anybody that you’re having a conversation with. Being up front, straightforward is really the best way, even if it’s upsetting a little bit.”

The aftermath of the trade deadline can affect the team on that day leading up to the game, especially when numerous players end up having to leave the clubhouse. It’s the human element to this day that is rarely mentioned.

“They definitely came out of the blue,” Marlins reliever Jeff Brigham said on the trade news, “all three of them to be honest. Those were three of my best friends on the team so it was definitely a tough pill to swallow. I am excited for the other guys who got called up with me because of these past couple trades but it definitely was tough to see my friends go.”

The Marlins called up Brigham, Tyler Kinley and Kyle Keller to fill the holes in the bullpen. They also reinstated Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list. Keller was in the Arizona Fall League last season and comes into the fold after striking out 68 batters in 51.1 innings in the minor leagues.

“He’s a guy with a big arm,” Mattingly said. “A guy who has been putting it together in Triple-A this year. So we’re going to get a look to see how he handles his first attempt at the big leagues and see how his stuff is going to play.”

“I saw him this morning and I’m so pumped for him,” Brigham said. “He’s an awesome guy. I mean he’s been working his butt off all year. He’s got good stuff. He definitely has a chance to succeed up here.”

The Rays are in the thick of the wild card race and on top of the pitchers they got from Miami, they also brought in Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jesús Aguilar. He hit 35 home runs last season but is hitting only eight home runs and batting .225 with a .694 OPS this season. We saw what Tampa can do for players searching for career rehabilitation. 30-year-old catcher Travis d’Arnaud went from castoff to power hitter just by rocking the sunburst.

Around the same time Arizona acquired Gallen, the Diamondbacks added Mike Leake from Seattle and sent Zack Grienke to the Houston Astros for four prospects, one of which is named Beer. Greinke is 35 and was the ace of the Diamondbacks staff with a 2.87 ERA, which reminds people in Miami to not use age as a reason to rush a controllable starting pitcher out the door, regardless of trade return.

After sending their top prospect to Miami, Arizona receives Houston’s No. 3-5 prospects in first baseman Seth Beer and right-handers J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. They also received No. 22 ranked prospect, infielder Josh Rojas, and cash. The Diamondbacks (3.5 games back from wild card) restocked their farm system but still have the pitching to continue competing for the playoffs.

Meanwhile the Astros are going into the playoffs with a rotation of Justin Verlander, Garrett Cole and Grienke. If that doesn’t win the World Series this year, what will?