The Miami Dolphins better have hit a home run with Tua Tagovailoa

The Miami Dolphins better have hit a home run with Tua Tagovailoa.

Tua Tagovailoa will make his first start in the NFL on Sunday against the Rams and he darn well better be as good as he has been billed.

There is a lot of hype surrounding Tua Tagovailoa and his first start with the Miami Dolphins and naturally, enthusiasm should be tempered for a rookie in his first game. That being said, the “hype train” is full speed ahead and as someone who was not a fan of his while in college, he damn well better be what I’m being sold.

I’m not the only one. Don’t get me wrong, I like Tagovailoa and will support him every snap with the Miami Dolphins and I will also admit that when the Dolphins drafted Dan Marino, I wasn’t a fan of that either. I wanted Darrell Green.

Tagovailoa has talent and you can’t deny that but what is that talent level when it comes to the NFL level? We simply don’t know. I’m relying on all the fans who watched and drooled over every pass at Alabama. I’m relying on the fans who cried when he got hurt and ran through walls with incredible passion when he was drafted. I’m trusting your opinion but know this, I also trusted these same fans when they told me I was wrong about Justin Herbert.

Herbert has no leadership ability, they said. Herbert will be a bust in the NFL because he lacks instincts, they said. Herbert is playing exceptionally well in the NFL by the way. As a fan of his dating back two years ago, I was not thrilled we didn’t draft him but I did believe the fans who dissected Tua knew far more than I do.

Now, it’s time for him to step in and lead this team. I want to see his leadership on the field. I want a field general who directs his army, I want a confident kid with a little swagger and a little cockiness everytime he walks up to the line.

Fans have not given him much space between being a full-blown bust or a Hall of Fame quarterback. If Tua turns out to be a Miami Dolphins version of Ryan Tannehill, sorry, that’s not good enough. If he turns out to be the equivalent of a Jay Fiedler, that is not good enough. He has to be great. That is the pedestal that 1,000s of fans have put him on.

Honestly, my evaluations of him will not be as a homer or a hater. I don’t hate Tua, I really like him but I want to love him. I need to see what he looks like with the make-up off the next morning over coffee. I don’t need to see him decked out for a big Saturday night party, or in NFL terms, I don’t care about his highlight reel. I want to see a full tape. Then I will love him and not simply root for him.

I have high expectations for Tua but not unrealistic ones. I don’t buy all the hype from the Tuanites, I don’t buy the can’t miss prospect but I won’t accept excuses either. I don’t want to hear that his hip is part of the problem, or confidence in his hip, or that he only succeeds throwing the quick slant, or anything else. I want him to take the field and impress me. He doesn’t have to be perfect he doesn’t have to be close to it, he only needs to show he belongs and that there is something to build upon. I don’t expect him to play like Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow, but I want consistency.

Facing the Rams defense will not be easy and Tua will need to keep his head on a swivel at all times but I expect him to play better than Ryan Fitzpatrick. We all should, apparently the Dolphins think it is time. They think that Tua is ready and provides the Dolphins the best chance of winning.

It’s Tua time and in six days, we will get some answers to some of our questions. Tua is the Miami Dolphins quarterback and whether you are a giddy little schoolboy or a nervous Nancy, we are all fans and we all want to see him step on the field and glide across it with ease.

The better news is that his teammates genuinely seem excited to see him on the field and that says a lot as well. If he has his teammates excited about the change, there has to have been something in practice that we didn’t get to hear about. That too can get you pumped!