Miami Dolphins should at least be thrilled with Tua Tagovailoa
By Brian Miller
Tua Tagovailoa isn’t Justin Herbert or Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow or anyone else, he is Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins starting QB and he is good.
The Miami Dolphins made the decision to draft Tagovailoa over Herbert and many fans are now calling for the heads of Grier and Flores. I’m not far away from calling for Griers but to be honest, it’s not because of Tagovailoa.
Truth be told, Tagovailoa isn’t the problem. Far from it. He is showing the signs of being Miami’s best QB since Dan Marino. That is saying a lot, especially when you consider his injuries and his inconsistent play but in reality, Tagovailoa still hasn’t played within a real offense.
Chan Gailey dumbed down the playbook for Tagovailoa the rookie. In week one 2021, Tagovailoa started without Will Fuller and Preston Williams. He started with Malcolm Brown as the starting RB instead of Myles Gaskin. In week two he was drilled to the ground on the first play of the second series and missed the next three games.
Tua returned on Sunday. He returned without DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, and Will Fuller. He returned with a considerable focus on Malcolm Brown instead of Gaskin. He returned with Jesse Davis still starting on the offensive line.
The Dolphins are not doing Tua Tagovailoa any favors. None. Jaylen Waddle is a budding star in the making and while they finally figured out how to get him further downfield, the offensive play calling still is a huge problem as well.
When given time, Tua is showing the accuracy that made him a star at Alabama. He is showing consistency and an ability to read defenses. Let us not pretend that Tua is great. He isn’t. He has a lot of work to do to get better and there is a lot of room for improvement but Tua is not the problem and should be part of the solution.
There continues to be speculation and rumor about an inevitable trade for Deshaun Watson and while I admit Watson is an elite QB, I can’t help but think that Miami has a future elite QB already on the roster. Instead of trying to get him weapons, maybe Brian Flores and Chris Grier should concentrate on getting him elite protection and a singular offensive coordinator with a killer instinct and creativity.