Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa is primed for a breakout season

The Miami Dolphins got Tua Tagovailoa everything he needs to breakout in 2022, led by superstars Tyreek Hill & Terron Armstead.

It’s been an up and down NFL career so far, for one of the most prolific passers in College Football history. Every good moment endured by Tagovailoa during his time in Miami, can easily be replaced by two bad ones.

Who remembers the Arizona Cardinals game? Still till this day may be Tua’s best NFL performance. We saw special in the State Farm Stadium that day, or what many refer to as, “Alabama Tua”.

How about the Buffalo Bills game in 2020? When the Dolphins were in a win-and-in situation for the playoffs, and the Bills rested their starters in the second half? Tua had debatably his worst NFL game of his career through 21 starts, throwing for 3 interceptions in a must win game.

Or how about the Tennessee Titans game this past year? Another must win situation for Tagovailoa and the Dolphins, and the 2nd year QB completed 48% of his passes for a dreadful 53.1 rating.

You see? Tagovailoa will need to add more great moments and limit the bad ones in 2022.

Lack of support

As many Dolphins fans argue angrily on social media, Tua has had one of the worst situations any young QB could be thrown into since entering the league.

No running game, bottom tier weapons, a historically bad offensive line, some of the worst offensive coaches in the NFL, and the non stop Deshaun Watson rumors. Now while all of this is true, it would be unfair to state Tua has been spectacular in-spite of this.

Tagovailoa’s production in 21 games:

13-8 record.
66.2%.
4,467 yards (212 Y/PG).
27 touchdowns.
15 interceptions.

Despite not living up to his draft-day hype thus far, GM Chris Grier and Owner Stephen Ross, have not given up on the young player. To get the best out of their #5 pick, the Dolphins front office put together an extensive head coach search, looking for someone to unlock the keys to a high-powered offense.

Can Mike McDaniel develop Tua?

Feb 10, 2022; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel speaks during a press conference at Baptist Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports /

After many weeks of going through candidates, the Dolphins front office decided on the ex-49ers offensive coordinator, Mike McDaniel. The 39 year old is a part of the Mike Shannahan coaching tree, which has amounted to be one of the best in the league.

Kyle Shannahan, Sean McVay, Matt LeFleur, Arthur Smith, Kevin Stefanski, and Nathaniel Hackett are all coaches product of the Mike Shannahan tree.

The Dolphins hope McDaniel is the next young offensive mind who can put one of the league’s best offenses together, using the west coast offense with Tagovailoa at the forefront.

The Dolphins A+ Free Agency

After acquiring the team’s next man in charge, focus shifted to free agency, where the Dolphins had one goal in mind, “support Tagovailoa”.

That mindset has been nothing short of exactly what the organization has done the past two weeks. The Dolphins addressed their dreadful running game with additions of Raheem Mostert, and Chase Edmonds.

They attacked their historically bad offensive line with signing one of the best LT’s in the league, Terron Armstead. They signed a solid starter at LG in Conor Williams, and there’s chatter that the Fins may not be done. On top of adding a few veteran lineman, the hope is a couple of the Dolphins’ top draft picks, (Austin Jakckson, Liam Eichenburg), will develop into solid players with new coaching from McDaniel and new offensive line coach, Matt Applebaum.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 23: Wide receiver Tyreek Hill #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs flashes a peace sign toward outside linebacker Matt Milano #58 of the Buffalo Bills as he heads for the end zone to score a touchdown during the 4th quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 23, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

For weaponry, the Dolphins brought back Mike Gesicki on the Franchise Tag, they signed Cedrick Wilson from the Cowboys, whose an electric slot receiver, and one of the biggest moves of the entire off-season, Miami traded for the most dynamic weapon in the NFL, Tyreek Hill. Adding Hill to a wide receiver room with Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker, creates one of the best group of receivers in the entire NFL.

For Tua’s lack of support the first two year’s of his career, Chris Grier more than made up for that with the arsenal he’s put around the quarterback this off-season. Grier brought in supposedly one of the brightest young offensive minds in the league, a top 5 LT, a top 5 WR, and a ton of other speed to surround Tagovailoa with.

A breakout season is coming

With all of this added talent and coaching around Tua, he will have to perform this season. There’s no more excuses, or waiting around for Tagovailoa to prove himself any longer. It’s clear the Dolphins are in win-now mode, and if Tua can’t get it done, they won’t hesitate to move on in 2023.

Despite this high pressure season for Tua, I believe he is gonna answer the call and put together a very impressive year 3 season. We’ve seen glimpses of what the Alabama star can do in the NFL, Tagovailoa just needs to be more consistent to reach his full potential.

I project Tua to have a breakout season under McDaniel with all of his new weapons this upcoming year.

3800 passing yards
33TDs, 11ints.

I’m predicting the yards to be a little low because of the run heavy offense McDaniel is likely to create. But with a much improved offensive line, and one of the most dangerous offensive skill groups in NFL history, Tua will prove to be what we saw at Alabama.

Accuracy. Anticipation. Special.

2022 will be fun.

Home/Dolphins News