By Kavin Mistry
It has been an interesting three seasons in the National Football League for former Spartan quarterback David Fales.
He spent two years with the Chicago Bears after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2014 draft before being cut last year. He then joined the Baltimore Ravens for a short stint on the practice squad before signing back with the Bears where he got his first NFL action against the Minnesota Vikings. This year, Fales signed with his third NFL team, the Miami Dolphins, on April 5.
Fales now has a prime chance to prove he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
News broke Thursday morning that Dolphins starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a knee injury to the same knee that sidelined him a season ago.
Tentatively, the Dolphins have Matt Moore slotted in as the starter in Tannehill’s absence, but Fales has the rest of training camp to prove he can take that spot.
Last summer, Fales told The Spear about being a backup quarterback in the NFL.
“It was a really big transition,” Fales said. “You go from getting all the reps to having to share reps here everyday and you are not the guy anymore.”
The pinnacle of Fales’ career as a quarterback came at his time with the Spartans. In 2012, the transfer quarterback torched the Western Athletic Conference and put up numbers that had him in the conversation of being a first-round pick.
He led the all of college football in accuracy and was third in efficiency. He was also named the most valuable player in the 2012 Military Bowl when the Spartans defeated Bowling Green 29-20. Fales completed 33 of 43 pass attempts for 395 yards and two touchdowns.
Fast forward five years, and the SJSU alum is now fighting for a shot to take snaps under center for the Miami Dolphins.