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.

Tragically, Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti died at the age of 78 on Tuesday, July 30. Upon hearing the news, former teammates and organizations came out in droves to lament the loss. Not the least of which was former Dolphins wide receiver Nat Moore, who is the team’s Senior Vice President of special projects and alumni relations.

"More than just a football player" #Dolphins great Nat Moore on the passing of his friend and former agent, Fins @ProFootballHOF Nick Buoniconti. We'll have much more on the life of the Fins legend on @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/AHi6s7QaPF

— Chris Fischer NBC6 (@FischerNBC6) July 31, 2019

“It’s a real sad day for the Dolphins and our alumni.” He said.  “We lost one of our greats with the passing of Nick Buoniconti. He was a great football player, a true Hall of Famer, but he was much more than that. He was a lawyer and a successful business leader. Most of all he was a family man. The work he did with the Miami Project following the tragic accident with Marc will never be matched. My thoughts are with his wife, Lynn, and children, Marc, Nick and Gina. He will be missed and always in our hearts.”

Of course, Moore was not the only one to reach out. Other legends came out to express their sadness over the loss of a teammate and friend.

Larry Csonka

“I’m deeply saddened by the news of Nick’s passing. He was the consummate team captain, the heartbeat of our team. I’ll miss Nick, his wisdom and class. Because of Nick, the world’s a much better place. My sincerest condolences to Lynn and family. RIP brother, #85.”

Larry Little

“The main thing I always remember about Nick is that we were both traded to the Dolphins the same year (1969) and were bonded ever since then. He came from Boston and I was with San Diego. We had a great relationship and always kidded each other. We were both captains of the 1972 team and he would always call the coin toss and got it right every time. One time I asked to do it and I got it wrong. He never let me forget that! He was a great guy and a great person, he was always a fierce competitor. It’s really a sad day for me.”

Dick Anderson

“It’s a difficult day. Nick was the leader of our defense and another coach on the field. You combine him with our defense coach, Bill Arnsparger, and you know why he always bragged that we made just 11 mental errors on defense during the entire prefect season of 1972. We just had to go where they told us to go and make the play. As great a player as he was on the field, and he was a Hall of Famer, he was even more impactful off the field with all the work he did with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after the injury to his, Marc. He helped raised $200-300 million and made the Project one of the world’s leading neurological research centers.”

Kim Bokamper

“Maybe they were the no name defense but they were probably the no mistake defense [as well] and Nick was kind of the leader of that. He wouldn’t put up with guys that didn’t know what their job was, didn’t know where they were supposed to line up or didn’t play with the maximum effort. He kind of spearheaded that defense and really gave them the image of what they were but more importantly, gave them the heart that he brought to the table each and every week.”

Don Shula

“I am sad to hear of Nick’s passing. Nick was special to me in every way. He was someone I greatly admired. His love for his wife, Lynn, his children, grandchildren, friends, teammates, family and the community was evident. His groundbreaking work with The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis has made a huge difference in the lives of so many people. I am thankful to have had Nick in my life. I will miss him.”

New England Patriots

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Nick Buoniconti. pic.twitter.com/xif4HjsDXr

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 31, 2019

Off the field

There are still more individuals who were touched by the passing of Nick Buoniconti, and they also offered their condolences.

“My dad has been my hero and represents what I have always aspired to be; a leader, a mentor and a champion.” said son Marc Buoniconti. “He selflessly gave all to football, to his family and to those who are less fortunate. He made a promise to me that turned into a revolution in paralysis research. We can best honor his dedication and endless commitment by continuing with our work until that promise is fulfilled and a cure is found.”

“Nick Buoniconti was a true hero of the game,” Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker said in a statement. “His inspiring Hall of Fame journey that started as a 13th round draft choice to leading the Dolphins ‘No Name’ defense is one filled with grit, determination, courage and compassion. Nick’s contributions off the field were even greater than what he did on it. He lived a life of honor and nobility and his legacy will live forever through his Bronzed Bust in Canton, Ohio. The entire Hall of Fame family mourns Nick’s passing and we will keep his wife Lynn and his entire family in our thoughts and prayers.”

Needless to say, Buoniconti leaves a void in the hearts of many with his departure. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Buoniconti family during their time of need.

Now that the pads have come on and players are getting much more physical, the time has come to really start evaluating players in training camp. Naturally, things changed on the offensive line as head coach Brian Flores fired Pat Flaherty, the OL coach. Now it’s up to Dave DeGuglielmo – in his third stint with the Dolphins – to make things work on the line.

Immediately, things began to change in the OL’s approach. And it showed as other players were able to shine as a result.

Michael Deiter, G

Deiter didn’t wow the crowd with his blocking prowess. However, given that all it took was Flaherty being fired for the rookie out of Wisconsin to get time with the starters, one has to wonder what was going on behind the scenes. Either way, Deiter was decent playing left guard between Laremy Tunsil and Daniel Kilgore. “Decent” is admittedly not high praise, but it’s quite a jump from Flaherty’s comments where he said Deiter had a long way to go.

DeGuglielmo is not shy about playing rookies and younger players. They take their lumps and learn like they’re expected to start. Given the state of Miami’s offensive line, Deiter may actually have to do so. Thus, it’s an excellent sign Deiter didn’t sink upon being thrust into the starting lineup.

Jerome Baker, LB

Welcome to the new NFL, where speed is key and big, bruising linebackers are a thing of the past. Baker is thriving with this setup, and that continued on Tuesday. Baker broke up a pass, was excellent in pass rushing, and put a hit on fullback Chandler Cox that knocked him to the ground. That’s no easy feat, especially with how Cox is built. Baker is proving to be the best linebacker on the Dolphins roster by far, and with the defensive scheme emphasizing versatility, he’ll be all over the place.

Baker, along with Sam Eguavoen, could be a good tandem for Miami’s defense in 2019. It’s something to monitor for the future.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB

Aside from one embarrassing slip-up where Fitzpatrick reeled back to throw and the ball fell out of his hand before he could, Fitzpatrick was once again sharp. There’s no question at this point that between him and Rosen, Fitzpatrick is the better quarterback in training camp. This may not always be the case, but for now it’s obvious. Fitzpatrick was aggressive, he was accurate, and Rosen was…well, not.

Head coach Brian Flores even said as much during his press conference. Fitzpatrick has performed much more than Rosen so far, and this puts Flores in an interesting position. He’s repeatedly said there are “no sacred cows” on this team. Everyone has to earn their job, including Rosen. The fanbase wants to see Rosen start because they feel starting Fitzpatrick would be a waste of time. There’s no need to evaluate Fitzpatrick, everyone knows who he is and what to expect from him.

Rosen, however, is still young. If he doesn’t work out, then Miami almost assuredly will draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2020 draft. But if Flores is true to his word, Fitzpatrick must start the season if this continues.

If you were to take all of Quentin Tarantino’s myriad references — the classic deep-cut rock tunes, the vintage TV shows, the Dirty Dozen-style movies, Spaghetti Westerns, grindhouse cinema, martial arts flicks, dark humor, and, of course, women’s feet — you get Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. It’s Tarantino’s love letter to L.A. and 1960s Hollywood and all that makes him the artist that he is. And it’s a great, if not an oftentimes meandering, ride. 

But meandering is probably the wrong word. 

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is a movie that definitely takes you somewhere — it just takes its time getting there. This Tarantino film, more than most, is about the journey more than the destination. And, much like Jackie Brown — Tarantino’s third movie and a masterpiece in its own right — it leans heavy on an amalgam of interesting hapless low-rent characters you can’t help like and root for. And, like Jackie Brown, Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is a film you’ll need to see again and again to truly grasp how good of a movie it really is. 

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood thrives on the edge of old movie and TV references while giving you delicious morsels of great performances from its cast, humorous moments, slow ominous foreshadowing and, yes, women’s feet. The movie centers around three central characters: Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and their lives in and out of the film-making industry in 1969. A fourth character, haunting the movie with an ethereal creepiness, is the Manson family. One can say a fifth character is old Los Angeles itself — beautifully shot and reimagined in all its neon-polished 1960s glory.

Dalton is a down-on-his-luck actor who used to be the leading man on a hit Western TV show and starred in an Inglorious Basterds-like movie where he blow torches a bunch of Nazis (which is as fucking cool as is sounds). Now, as his career begins to wind down and with his show canceled, Dalton finds himself forced to take bit parts as the bad guy in other TV shows like FBI. Booth, meanwhile, is Dalton’s best friend, hype man, and stunt double who works mostly as his personal assistant and driver. He also has a shady past (turns out Booth may or may not have murdered his pain-in-the-ass wife). And Tate is, well, Tate — a gorgeous up-and-coming actress married to the hottest director in town, Roman Polanksi, starring in movies with Dean Martin and going to parties at the Playboy Mansion with Steve McQueen (portrayed by Billions’ Damian Lewis, who is a dead ringer for the acting legend), and other Hollywood luminaries. Tate also happens to be Dalton’s next door neighbor on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon in L.A. (Manson Murder aficionados will no doubt recognize that fateful street). The juxtaposition between Dalton and Tate is obvious — one is climbing the ladder of stardom, while the other is seeing his star fading hard and fast. Booth, an aging stunt man with incredible old man strength who lives in a trailer with his dog, meanwhile, is just happy to be here. And in the midst of it all is an unsettling Charles Manson and his band of young, mostly female, cult followers living on a former movie-set ranch and being super weird and creepy and murdery. 

But to be sure, this movie is not about that. The Manson Murders merely acts as a means to an end in a way. And that seems to have thrown off some moviegoers a bit — if not frustrated some outright. Which is quintessential Quentin, really. 

Like most people, when I first heard Tarantino was making a movie that dealt with the Manson Murders, my initial instinct was to cringe a little. Anyone familiar with the Tate/Bianca murders perpetrated by Charles Manson and his deranged followers in August of 1969, knows it was a gruesome, terrifying act of pure evil. And that subject matter in the hands of a director that loves to play in the ultraviolent world of people getting shot in the face, people being shot in the dick, people puking buckets of blood, people being anally raped by leather-clad gimps, and people having their ears severed off to the tune of Stealers Wheels’ Stuck In the Middle With You can be dicey, at best. Especially when you consider the utter heinousness of the Manson Murders. But then you remember that Tarantino’s greatest knack (aside from slipping in a shot of a woman’s feet without you seemingly noticing) is to tell stories in a way that the viewer doesn’t see coming, and that’s when you begin to see where this movie is taking you. It’s why we love Quentin Tarantino so much. It’s why Pulp Fiction was an instant classic. It’s why Inglorious Basterds is a goddamn masterpiece. 

Here’s all you need to know about how the Manson Murders plays into Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood: Quentin Tarantino loves the movies, he loves the sheer beauty of 1960s cinema and Hollywood and he — like the rest of us — is very pissed off that Charles Manson and his brood of murderous dirty hippie weirdos barged their way into that world and not only put an end to all that beauty, but left a permanent stain on the culture and the American psyche in the process. And the way he deals with this seminal moment in Hollywood history is pure Quentin Tarantino. 

But the highlight of Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood are its characters. DiCaprio is absolutely brilliant as Dalton, struggling with facing his new reality and trying desperately to keep a very slippery grip on a once shining career. DiCaprio has a blast playing this character and it comes through. Pitt, meanwhile, channels a little of The Dude from The Big Lebowski — a breezy Angelino who smokes acid-dipped cigarettes, pals around with his loyal pitbull and takes things as they come while reminiscing about the time he had a fight with Bruce Lee on the set of The Green Hornet. Robbie, meanwhile, is amazing as Tate. A lot has been made about her not getting enough lines in this movie, but once you see her performance you see that less is indeed more (the scene where she goes into an L.A. theater and watches one of her movies and takes in the audiences’ reaction to her scenes is just great film making). 

Following the immensely disappointing and self-indulgent The Hateful Eight, and the tragic death of Tarantino’s long-time editor Sally Menke, I was worried QT had begun to lose his touch. But with Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, my faith has been restored. 

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is a fun winding ride. It hits most of the Tarantino sweet spots: It’s funny, it’s irreverent, it’s violent, it’s nostalgic, it’s stylized and it’s cool. And it’s going to be a movie that, in ten years or so, will be considered one of his best.

Chris Joseph (@ByChrisJoseph) is a host of Ballscast, and has written about sports and movies for Deadspin, Miami New Times, CBS Sports, and several other outlets.