Miami Dolphins dawg of the week: Tua Tagovailoa

The Miami Dolphins took on the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend and put together a surgical performance, Skylar Thompson and Tua Tagovailoa balled out.

The Miami Dolphins have been gathering a lot of hype the past month, QB Tua Tagovailoa is showing flashes of great plays in practice. This past weekend the fans along with the rest of the NFL got their first in-game sneak peek of the new Miami Dolphins offense.

It’s Thursday, September 1st as I’m writing this so you probably already saw and heard all the commentary on “the throw” to Tyreek Hill.

We’re not here to talk about if the pass was underthrown or not because everybody has talked about it already, but keep in mind this was the first play of the game! and the first-ever in-game pass from Tua to Tyreek Hill.

The Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill combo will be electric:

I’ll be the first to say I wasn’t the biggest fan of Tyreek Hill starting to get so loud about his past in Kansas City and also (at the time) overhyping Tua.

In my mind, the only way we would get to see the Tua we see now is if the team kept him away from all the noise and let him come back guns blazing in week 1, not throw him directly into the fire 3 months before camp so the noise gets even louder.

Tyreek Hill saw the vision and I was wrong about trying to be so careful with how the team handles Tua. In the end, I learned that even though increasing the pressure can make some players break, if it’s done correctly giving your players confidence can make them reach new levels.

Tua was not only very sharp and confident this past weekend, he has been building up that character throughout camp. In my opinion, it has to do a lot with Tyreek Hill.

But even if someone hypes you up and throws you into the spotlight it’s on you to either perform or fold to the pressure. Tua has immersed himself in the team, has been putting in the extra hours, is growing as a leader, and is showing a lot of dedication and key intangibles that were not there last year.

The Mike McDaniel effect helped, but the Tyreek Hill stimulus package gave Tua newfound confidence. Will he transfer this to the regular season?