The Miami Dolphins drafting of Tua Tagovailoa is looking pretty darn good right now
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins made the right draft pick for their franchise given the options they had.
The statistics say that Justin Herbert was the right QB. Winning in the postseason says that Joe Burrow was the right pick. Tua trails behind in both categories.
I was a big fan of Joe Burrow's all the way back to his days at OSU. I follwed Justin Herbert long before I paid attention to Tua Tagovailoa. I wanted both of those QBs over Tua in the draft. I'm not disappointed Miami opted to draft Tua and no one should be.
Each in their own way is a leader on their team but Tua stands out. His teammates absolutely love playing with him and have openly said he is a leader on the field and off. He is extremely well-liked by those who meet him and comes with no baggage or attitude.
Perhaps the biggest knock on Tua is that he has no ego. He isn't screaming in his players' faces for dropping a pass or running a bad route, he isn't throwing tantrums on the sidelines.
Did the Dolphins make the right pick? Yes, they did. This entire debate should never really include Joe Burrow. The Dolphins didn't pass on him. They just couldn't get the Bengals to take whatever they were offering.
This is about Tua vs. Herbert. So far, Tua doesn't need all the statistics to be the better QB and he doesn't need to throw the ball 70 yards down the field if it isn't going to be completed or intercepted.
Herbert has two TD passes of 72 yards in his career. Tua has one of 84. Both are quality QBs in the NFL but when the game is on the line and your team needs 60 yards with one timeout, Tua has shown consistently he can lead the Dolphins down the field. Herbert is much less consistent.
Will this debate really end? No. It didn't for Marino's draft class either and that is what makes it fun but given the two completely different franchises of Miami and L.A. the Dolphins got a guy that is right from their franchise and it seems the Chargers did as well.
One thing we can't say with any real certainty is whether or not either QB would find the same success on the other team.