Tua Tagovailoa over Herbert? Some fans believe that was a mistake

The Miami Dolphins chose to draft Tua Tagovailoa one pick before the Los Angeles Chargers took Tua Tagovailoa.

Tua Tagovailoa remains on the bench for the Miami Dolphins and fans have started wondering if the Dolphins made a mistake drafting him.

Now, months later, Tua Tagovailoa is right where he is supposed to be and the Miami Dolphins are doing exactly what they should be doing. Letting him learn. Letting him sit. Keeping him off the field. All while Justin Herbert has a four touchdown night and Joe Burrow has been playing well in Cincinnati.

Admittedly, I am not a huge Tua Tagovailoa fan. I wasn’t when he was in college at Alabama and I wasn’t during the drive up to the draft. It wouldn’t take much research to find my opinions on why Herbert was my top choice dating back to the 2018 season. Or why Joe Burrow was my number two. Or why they interchanged so easily without ever mentioning Tua Tagovailoa as one my top two.

That being said, Tua Tagovailoa, not Justin Herbert, not Joe Burrow, and not any other 2020 drafted quarterback, is a Miami Dolphins. Tagovailoa is my quarterback and I want to see him play. I’m just not willing to pay that cost quite yet.

Brian Flores doesn’t believe that Tua needs to be on the field late in a game to get reps that mean nothing. During his press conference on Monday, Flores said he didn’t see a point in putting Tua in to hand the ball off. He isn’t ready for Tua to be on the field and despite the fact that many fans want him to be, he won’t be. Not any time soon.

Fans rage or concerns range on social media from “They made a mistake” to “we can’t judge Tua as better than Herbert because he never was”. Even Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has been hearing it from fans this morning.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing good football right now so the best chances for the Dolphins in 2020 is Fitzpatrick. Consider this though, while fans of Burrow and Herbert watch them play in the NFL, I am one of them, these fans need to realize that if they were members of the Miami Dolphins, they would be sitting out right now as well.

Neither Burrow or Herbert would have been starting for the Dolphins in front of Fitzpatrick. This was Fitzpatrick’s team from the start and that was always the plan. The rookie would sit, the rookie would wait, the rookie would learn, and it didn’t matter who that rookie was.

Tua sitting is not a bad thing and while emotionally we all want him to play we have to realize that he is not in the same position as the Bengals or the Chargers are. A position where they need to have their rookies on the field.

Those fans who believe the Dolphins made a mistake taking Tua are obviously looking for nothing more than a pot they can stir up. They, the ones who like controversey simply because they can ride the waves it creates.

I can’t wait to see Tua Tagovailoa play in a game and I hope when he does, we are all sitting there saying “WOW” this kid has it. There is plenty of time to criticize busted draft picks two or three years from now. Now is not the time.

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The important thing is that Tua is learning from Fitzpatrick. That he is learning how to breakdown film and recognize defensive schemes and adjustments. No one is critical of his talent or they shouldn’t be. Tua has a big arm and is one of the most accurate college QBs of the last couple of years. He should be fine when he gets on the field and when he does we can compare then.

The Dolphins have missed on many opportunities to draft a quarterback or fix their QB problems but judging them on not drafting one quarterback over another or not trading up isn’t really an intelligent argument at this stage of that game.

I get it, I do. As a Herbert and Burrow fan I would love to have seen them in Miami but I can’t say that if they were, I would be seeing anything from them on the field right now. In fact, I wouldn’t be seeing them on the field. So why get upset over it? In fact, why get upset at all? The Dolphins believe that Tua Tagovailao was their best choice at QB and as our readers often point out in the comments, who the hell am I to question their decision? I will leave that up to all of you.