Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa season outlook

Tua Tagovailoa was the fifth overall pick in 2020. He was brought in with the expectation of being the best Miami Dolphins quarterback since Dan Marino. Under head coach Brian Flores he struggled, but with the hiring of Mike McDaniel last year, he had the best year of his young career.

Last season Tagovailoa battled injuries and only appeared in 13 games. The Dolphins got off to a hot start going 8-0 in the games Tagovailoa started and finished. The season ended on a sour note as the Dolphins lost the last five games Tagovailoa started. Despite the ending, Tagovailoa set career highs in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and touchdown to interception ratio.

9.6 million dollar cap hit with 32.8 million in dead money if Tagovailoa was to be released. He obviously will not be released, but he is cheap right now. This is the Super Bowl window for the Dolphins. It will be easiest for them to win it all with a quarterback on a rookie contract.

Expectations for Tagovailoa and this Dolphins offense are sky-high entering 2023. The league got a taste of what this offense can do at the start of last year. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are the fastest wide receiver duo in the NFL.

They added more offensive talent in the draft. Devon Achane adds depth to the running back room adn even more speed. They also took Elijah Higgins, a wide receiver in college who will make the transition to tight end in the NFL.

In Tagovailoa’s second year in McDaniel’s offensive system the production should increase. There is familiarity not only with the system, but with top wide receiver Hill. The only question surrounding Tagovailoa this year is if he will stay healthy.

There is no reason to think that he has a good year if he stays healthy. People do not want to see another good year though. They want to see him make a leap to being a top five quarterback in the NFL.

He has all of the weapons and coaching to make that leap. I expect him to make that leap.