3 hallmarks I expect for the Dolphins in a Mike McDaniel themed offense
By Matt Serniak
I think it will be Tua Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback of the Dolphins in 2022. I’m not saying it’s right or anything like that. I’m just going by everything that we’ve learned from Stephen Ross over the last month that he wants to see Tua get another year. I realize this makes many fans upset and I understand it. I don’t let it ruin my day or attach unfunny or unclever adjectives to Tua’s name but I get that many want a different quarterback in there.
Because I believe that Mike McD will put Tua in the best position possible to succeed, I think Tua can very well have a good season. Not top 5 good, but the top half of the league possibly better is possible. Stone me with your remarks if you must, but this tweet really got me thinking that Tua is in good hands.
A note on Mike McDaniel, for those wondering about he and Tua.
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) February 4, 2022
Every place he’s been, and it’s not at all solely because of “him”, the QB has had best year of his career.
The list: Jake Plummer, Matt Schaub, Brian Hoyer, Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan, Jimmy G.
I see no reason why Tua can’t be on that list if he is running the same kind of system that we saw in San Franciso, Houston with Schaub Washington with Cousins, etc.
Like Bane once said “theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated”, the passing game that is a result of that effective zone-blocking run game is based on fooling the defense into thinking you’re running the ball which is affectionately called play-action. Now Bane went and broke Batman’s back after Batman’s failed attempt at deception but you get the point.
Tua, I imagine, will be running a good amount of bootlegs with flood concepts off of it from coming from under center. We’ve seen Tua be effective from under center before so there’s no good reason to think he can’t just do more of it. And if the running game really does pop off, with whoever is back there carrying the rock, then Tua will have easy throws to complete and with his accuracy, it should result in big chunk plays.
Dump offs to tight ends and fullbacks(that’s right fullback is coming back I expect) in the flat crossers from the playside around the 18-yard level too deep shots to the deep crossers and go routes from the backside is what I think we’ll see a bunch of. These are throws that Tua can make.
Now, what will the offense look like on 3rd and 7 when everyone knows you have to throw it? That is where the difference from 7 wins to 10 wins can possibly lie. Tua is going to have to make that leap, which is something all those names on that list that Peter Schrager put out never really could. I’m going to hope he can break the cycle because doing the opposite sounds exhausting, but I get it if you don’t want to.