Drafting Tua Tagovailoa in your fantasy football league is smart

Tua Tagovailoa is a player that the mainstream media wants to dog every chance they get and that makes it hard to decide if he has a future on your fantasy teams.

If you believe some in the media, Tua Tagovailoa will be replaced by the time the Dolphins play at the Bengals by Teddy Bridgewater. So should you draft Bridgewater instead? No.

For many fantasy leagues, Tua won’t have much value this season, at least not during the draft. If you play with a bunch of Dolphins fans, like in one of our many leagues, Tua will go a lot higher than he will in most other leagues but that should work out well for you.

If you are debating on a roster spot for Tua, don’t. You should absolutely draft him even if you already have two other QBs on your roster. This is going to be an interesting season for the young QB and you should get in front of it while you can. He may not be slept on after this season.

For the most part, Tua is not getting drafted until the mid to later rounds and we are definitely talking round 10, watch the mock draft later in the summer as they will start to show more consistency where players are likely to land. For now, the confidence in Tua isn’t high.

So why should you draft him? If history teaches us anything it teaches us that stats are not always accurate in the NFL. Tua was an average QB last year and the year before but there are a number of reasons why that is the case and you need to consider one thing first and foremost. Tua’s accuracy is legit top level in the NFL. That really isn’t a debate.

So where is the problem with Tua that keeps him down further on draft boards? Miami’s roster of course.

• Offensive line – Ranked 32nd
• Two OC’s and a QB coach calling plays
• No HC support internally or externally
• Lack of depth and quality at WR behind Waddle
• Mack Hollins, Albert Wilson, DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, Will Fuller – Enough said

So what does that mean? Those bullet points are what Tua dealt with last season and you can’s discount how bad all of that was. Including the fact that Miami’s QB coach had never coached in the NFL at all. Last year was a complete mess but Tua was the one consistent on offense.

During the 2021 season, Miami had a seven-game losing streak. During that streak, Jacoby Brissett started four games in a row losing all four. Tua would return against Jacksonville in London, he led the offense to a late game score but the defense gave up the win. It repeated the following week against the Falcons and Tua failed miserably against the Bills.

Miami’s seven game winning streak was entirely with Tua at the helm except for the Texans game and the late 3rd and 4th quarter against the Ravens.

• Offensive line
• A singular OC
• A supportive HC
• An offensive HC
• Waddle, Hill, Wilson at WR

There were universal changes on offense at offensive line and especially at WR. Tua has more talent on the offensive side of the ball than at any other time of his NFL career, albeit a short two seasons. With Tua’s accuracy and lack of mistakes, he should have a big year in 2022 and that could benefit you in fantasy football.

While it is too early to know if Tua is going to explode and become a winning fantasy QB, there is enought to warrant consideration later in the draft and he should be on your radar at some point after round six.

Teddy Bridgewater isn’t going to provide you much this year barring injury to Tua but it does make him valuable if you have Tua. Keep an eye on Bridgewater because if Tua does get hurt, Bridgewater is going to be a very popular pick up in all leagues. In fact, you should be able to draft in the last two rounds and even if you keep him on the bench for the first few weeks, you might find yourself rewarded if Tua goes down.