The Miami Dolphins drafting of Tua Tagovailoa is looking pretty darn good right now
By Brian Miller
The biggest debate in all of this is clearly the Miami Dolphins selecting Tua Tagovailoa over Justin Herbert.
Fans want to debate this until they are blue in the face. Those who followed Tua from Alabama, and there are a lot of them, will go to war over Tua's slander while at the same time, the non-Tua fans will use every errant pass, underthrown ball, and missed opportunity as a reason to drag him through the mud.
It doesn't help at all when the national media want to bash Tua as well. More on that as well shortly.
Player | TD | INT | Win/Losses | Yards | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Justin Herbert | 111 | 40 | 29-29 | 16,438 | 96.7 |
Tua Tagovailoa | 71 | 30 | 27-16 | 10,624 | 97.5 |
There are some huge numbers that pop out for Herbert. The 111 touchdowns are incredible as are the passing yards. Herbert ranks in the top 5 of all NFL QBs in history in those two metrics over the course of his first four seasons.
Herbert has also played in 58 games, 13 more than Tua Tagovailoa. This is where many will debate the two players and yes, there is a huge difference between the two. Herbert is a prototypical pocket passer, like Burrow, and Tua is less so but not much. None of the three are big runners out of the pocket.
What stands out the most, however, is that Herbert tends to lose games in the 4th quarter rather than win them, or at times, even hold a lead. His .500 record after four years isn't good and he has yet to lead the Chargers to a playoff victory. Like Tua, he took the Chargers to the playoffs last season. Unlike Tua, he was healthy enough to play.
For now, the comparisons between the two statistically go to Herbert but considering the winning % of both teams under each QB, Tua comes out ahead. In the end, winning is more important than great numbers...ask Dan Marino.