TNF’s Ryan Fitzpatrick Talks Rams, Bills, Mahomes, Kyler, Golf & More w/ Rich

Ryan Fitzpatrick checked in ahead of the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, but before the golf talk, Rich got him on the record about the AFC, the presumptive NFC favorite, and two quarterback competitions that fascinate him.

On the Rams, whom many will install as NFC favorites, Fitzpatrick refused to pile on the pressure. "I just think the NFL is awesome. It's so much different than the NBA and the super teams because it is so much about the team," he said. He allowed that Los Angeles should be the favorite, but stressed how hard it is to go wire to wire, pointing out that Seattle won the whole thing the year before. His bigger caveat was Matthew Stafford's health. "Can he stay healthy? That's going to be a big question mark and their season is going to be riding on that."

Asked for the best team in the AFC, Fitzpatrick admitted his bias and went with the Buffalo Bills for the fourth straight year. He is especially intrigued by the addition of DJ Moore, whom he described as a hard-working, misunderstood talent, and by how the offense evolves under Joe Brady. "With Josh Allen at quarterback, you have to go in as the favorite in the AFC."

But he sees a compelling MVP case elsewhere. Fitzpatrick called Patrick Mahomes his favorite for the award, precisely because of the doubt that has crept in. "There's enough of a narrative there that's going to drive him even more," he said, arguing that the focus Mahomes has put into rehabbing his body will fuel a reset. He also talked himself into the Bengals, crediting Joe Burrow's health as the key but pointing to the acquisition of Dexter Lawrence as a message to the locker room. "We believe in you guys. We want to make a run at this thing."

The quarterback-competition talk is where Fitzpatrick brought insider texture, having been in Miami with Tua Tagovailoa from the start. He sees Atlanta as a genuine battle if Michael Penix Jr. is healthy, and he is eager to watch Tagovailoa with real weapons. "The anticipation and the accuracy, those are the things that he does best."

Minnesota, though, drew his most detailed forecast. Fitzpatrick does not view Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy as a true competition, believing Murray should start from day one. His prediction was specific and a little contrarian. "It'll be a one-year great experiment. It's going to work great and then potentially tails off after that." A fresh start, he explained, lets Murray reinvent himself without the accumulated scars of his Arizona tenure, but the intangibles that dogged him there tend to resurface over time.

Then, finally, golf. Fitzpatrick is heading back to the American Century Championship with his son caddying again, and he came armed with self-deprecation and a new swing thought courtesy of Performance Golf. His one fix, he said, is staying connected and not breaking his arms, a single thought that quiets the other nine rattling around his head. He and Andrew Whitworth run a private wager, though Whitworth, now trimmed down and swinging like a scratch player, still takes his money. Not this year, Fitzpatrick vowed. Probably.