The Miami Dolphins may just have a future Hall of Fame quarterback on the roster if his statistics continue to impress, but winning will ultimately be the barometer to which he will be graded.
Through five seasons, Tua Tagovailoa is posting better statistical numbers than the quarterback the Dolphins should have signed over Daunte Culpepper. Yes, that is correct, Tua has better numbers than Drew Brees through the same period.
Brees left the Chargers and should have joined the Dolphins. Had it not been for Nick Saban taking the bad advice from the team physician, the history of the Dolphins post-Don Shula may have looked a lot different. Brees went on to a Hall of Fame career.
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Will Tua follow suit?
Tua Tagovailoa is putting up numbers that could eventually lead him into the Hall of Fame
On social media platform X, a columnist from Phins.com showed a side-by-side comparison of the two quarterbacks' statistics from their first five years in the league. It is pretty amazing they are so similar. Here's what it showed:
- Tua Tagovailoa: 61 games, 68% completions, 14,764 yards, 96 TDs, 41 INTs
- Drew Brees: 59 games, 62.2% completions, 12,348 yards, 80 TDs, 53 INTs
The NFL is following Tua closely this year, as he is in a position to take one record away from Brees.
Brees holds the NFL single-season record for highest completion percentage at 74.4. Tua is currently at 74.5, which would break the record if the season ended today.
It isn't going to be easy, given the remaining schedule, but for now, Tua has the smallest of leads over Brees in completion percentage for a single season.
There is an irony that it was Saban who passed on Brees but also coached Tua at Alabama. The coach who said he was not going to take the Alabama job still has his fingerprints on the Dolphins' roster.
Whether or not Tua's career takes a similar path to Brees' will not be known for another five seasons. Can he stay healthy? Can he thrive if the Dolphins' offensive system changes? For now, his numbers are impressive, but one thing Tua has yet to do that Brees was able to do was beat great football teams.
That is the onus on Tagovailoa's back. His record against top teams and cold weather isn't great.