Tua Tagovailoa: Disappointing grade after loss to the 49ers
Tua Tagovailoa, and his inability to be accurate under pressure and extend plays against the 49ers are why he is not an elite level quarterback yet.
You read that opening sentence and immediately jumped to a conclusion on what I’m about to say. You also probably immediately thought to yourself, “Our two starting tackles were out. It is not fair to judge him harshly on his performance.”
Notice, I did not say that Tua is not a good quarterback. I did not say that the Miami Dolphins should move off of Tua. I am simply saying that yesterday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers exposed one of the limitations that Tua has.
Tua is an accurate quarterback who has elite level anticipation skills. Everything between his ears is top notch. That is not the problem.
The problem is he has had not one… but two surgeries on his right ankle and another surgery on his hip.
He lacks the mobility to consistently extend plays when receivers do not get open and when his two starting tackles are out.
This lack of mobility and accuracy while under pressure led to me giving Tua a D grade for his performance against the 49ers. I do not want to be too hard on him since both starting tackles were out, but he was bad.
The elite accuracy that everyone knows Tua has was greatly effected by the pressure the 49ers put on him. He completed only 18 of his 33 pass attempts. That is not the Tua we know.
He started one of six. Five of those should have been completed.
The 49ers consistently pressured Tua, and he when they got him off his spot he struggled.
He also threw two interceptions. The first ones he has thrown since September. The first one was not his fault. Jeff Wilson Jr. slipped; it was just bad luck. The second interception however, was inexcusable for a quarterback with Tua’s accuracy.
It was one of the worst interceptions I have ever seen. No one was around Tyreek Hill, and Tua just flat out missed him.
Tua was terrible on third downs. The Dolphins did not convert a single third down the entire game. Tua was zero for five when passing on third downs and took two sacks.
You can not be that bad on third down and expect to get higher than a D in my class.
The next step in Tua’s game is to learn how to manipulate the pocket to avoid pressure. Tom Brady has never been athletic, but he knows how to move in the pocket to buy himself an extra half second to make an accurate throw.
There was some good from Tua. He went nine for 12 with a touchdown after the second interception. He was able to get to his spot and stand in the pocket with little to no pressure.
The problem is that he was not able to do that often, and when the playoffs come around the Dolphins are going to play teams with elite pass rushes.
Players like Von Miller, Chris Jones, Justin Houston, and Trey Hendrickson will be lined up across from Tua throughout the playoffs.
In order for the Dolphins to make a run at the Super Bowl, Tua is going to have to improve his ability to be accurate while he is under pressure.