How Tua Tagovailoa has earned himself another year in Miami
Say what you want about Tua Tagovailoa, but one thing is for certain. The 2022 season was all about proving himself and Tagovailoa did just that.
For the third year in a row, the off-season was all about Tua and whether or not the Miami Dolphins made the right choice selecting him fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. But Tua wanted to make sure he could make sure he can shut up the outside critics as much as he could.
Tua led the Dolphins to a 3-0 start and showing why the Dolphins took him at five but then his first concussion of the season happened in Cincinnati during the Week 4 matchup. This would sideline Tua for a few weeks and the Dolphins were in big trouble without him.
Miami would go on to lose the game that Tua finished, along with the two games that Tua missed entirely. Once he returned against Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football, we saw some special moments from Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins went on a 5 game winning streak that was led by Tagovailoa and showed glimpses of being a MVP candidate for this season.
But it all came crashing down quickly as the Dolphins would then stay streaky, but this time by losing 5 in a row. In game 3 of this losing streak, Tagovailoa suffered his second concussion of the season on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers.
This time, the concussion forced Tua to miss the last two weeks of the regular season along with the playoff matchup in Buffalo.
Despite being hurt, this may have helped out Tua on the media side of it and the people who were doubting him. Anyone who watched the Miami Dolphins their last three games can just see how important Tagovailoa is to this team.
Between the two quarterbacks who stepped in while Tagovailoa was out, Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson, neither of them could even come close to what was happening with this offense when Tua was in there.
Tagovailoa proved that he is one of the most accurate passers in the league, and that he can also make all of the throws that people said he could not make. The only real last concern with Tagovailoa now is his injury history.
Coming out of college, it was the hip everyone was worried about, but that seems healed and good to go. The real concern now is the number of concussions Tua had in one season.
It was officially reported that Tagovailoa had suffered two concussions, and widely debated if he has a third one that was never official. Concussions in the NFL can become very serious, and when you have multiples of them, it becomes a concern.
All reports have been pointing toward Tagovailoa coming back as the Dolphins’ Quarterback in 2023 and it will be an off-season unlike no other as the Dolphins will do everything they can to help get Tua back on the field and protect him.
Despite the concerns about Tagovailoa’s injury history, Tua has proved himself and that he deserves the chance to be Miami’s longtime answer they’ve been looking for since Dan Marino.