My Thoughts on Tua Tagovialoa

Tua Tagovialoa, AKA "The Samoan Sniper"  is in his 6th year with the Miami Dolphins.  And man, it has been a roller coaster.  

 We drafted him 5th overall back in 2020, after Burrow was drafted and the pick before Herbert in what has been a historic draft for the NFL.  But up against the other QBs drafted in the 2020 draft, Tua doesn't quite stack up as well as the other franchise quarterbacks drafted with him.

Tua was a heisman favorite in college, where he played for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Where he threw for 87 TDs and only 11 INTs, with 7,500 yards passing. Unfortunatley in his senior year, he came down with a brutal hip injury.  Causing his arm strength and mobility to significantly deminish compared to when he played at Alabama.

    After being drafted, he wasn't quite up to par with the career journey man Ryan Fitzpatrick, who got the starting job Tua's rookie year.  Brian Flores, the coach at the time, clearly did not have confidence in his newly vetted QB.  

The front office however, had confidence in the QB, the differing opinions caused Brain Flores to be fired after the 2021 season.  The next season, offensive guru Mike McDaniel took over playcalling.  

Under Mike McDaniel, Tua really took off.  He led the league in passing rating in 2022. The offense was the best in the league.  That is, when Tua was healthy.  

 During the 2022 season, Tua suffered 2 confirmed concussions and a possible 3rd.  Calling into question his ability to stay healthy and caused concerns for his mental health.  These concussions even forced the NFL to change their safety rules surrounding concussions.  

Dispite these talent and injury concerns, Tua landed a 4 year,  212.4 Million dollar contract with the Miami Dolphins.  

Tua since then, has only been downhill, he doesn't play like a regular quarterback should in this type of offense.  His main ability is placing the ball where it needs to be and being strictly in sync with his wide recievers when they run routes.  Giving him this unique advantage where he knows where his playmakers are at all time.  

But since the start of this season specifically, that ability seems to have been absent.  He currently has 17 TDs and 14 INTS.  Not the usual stats we see out of him.  He throws into triple coverage alot, and also seems to have trouble finding his recievers.  

Mike McDaniel, without a doubt Tua's biggest supporter and motivator.  Has notibly lost some confidence in the quarterback.  Continuingly bringing up the turnover issue and the lack of notible play out of Tua.

In my opinion, we need to jump ship, and do it quick.  Unfortuatly, Tua's contract makes it impossible to get rid of him currently, with massive dead-cap penaties built in, and a hesitence to trade for him due to poor performance.  

The best option in my opionion, is to draft a good offensive gaurd in the first round, and then next year draft a quarterback high in the draft.  Then have that rookie be a appretince under Tua Tagovialoa, who would be in his 8th year.