There was always doubt, and there was always a shred of hope. Tua Tagovailoa was the Miami Dolphins' highest-drafted quarterback since Bob Griese. He was supposed to be the guy who would make everyone forget about all the other starting quarterbacks since Dan Marino.
On Sunday in week 16, the Dolphins will start their 27th quarterback since Marino retired. Tagovailoa, now benched in favor of Quinn Ewers, is a poster child for the Dolphins' continued mistakes at the position.
Heading into 2022, the Dolphins were considering a quarterback change. It was Brian Flores who was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Mike McDaniel. Tagovailoa was sticking around.
Mike McDaniel made Tua Tagovailoa look far better than he ever actually was for the Miami Dolphins
The future for the Dolphins quarterback is now in more question than the future of the man who made him appear to be an NFL-caliber quarterback. McDaniel designed an offense around what Tagovailoa does well and left out the parts that he doesn't do well.
In his first year, McDaniel had the Dolphins heading to the postseason, a team suddenly and surprisingly on the rise. Tagovailoa had Miami going in the right direction; the Dolphins were a playoff team. Brian Flores was wrong.
That season ended with Tagovailoa missing the final two games of the year and Skylar Thompson nearly pulling off a major upset of the Bills in the first round of the playoffs. 2023 was going to be special.
After the 2023 season, expectations were at an all-time high, or at least a decades-long high. Again, Brian Flores was wrong. Even as the Dolphins exited the playoffs in the Wildcard round, Flores was completely wrong about the Dolphins' Tagovailoa.
Two years later, and Dolphins fans are realizing that Flores was actually right about him. McDaniel managed to mask his inabilities, but it only lasted for so long. Once that paint started to chip, the real Tagovailoa was easily seen.
For everything McDaniel did right for Tagovailoa, it hurt the team. A massive contract was handed to the quarterback after that special 2023 season, but Tagovailoa never played at the level the money dictated he should play at.
Now, he is on the bench. A rookie starting in his place, and questions about his future are being discussed on every social media platform and every media outlet. Turns out, McDaniel was the one who was wrong, and it just might cost him his job.