Fresh details emerge on how, when Miami Dolphins decided to take Tua Tagovailoa
In the days leading up to the NFL Draft, the Dolphins became convinced that Tua Tagovailoa was their quarterback target after getting a late green light from doctors, general manager Chris Grier told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on Sunday.
Breer, in his weekly MMQB column, reports that “only a handful of people knew” what the Dolphins’ draft plan was, and that the Dolphins settled on taking Tagovailoa at No. 5 (if available) after hearing the final opinion of the team’s medical staff.
The team believes, despite Tagovailoa’s injury history, that his hip dislocation was “a freak thing.”
“Yeah, we’re very comfortable,” Grier told Breer. “Really, it’s nothing different. We all know in this game, people get hurt. He’s had some injuries that people talk about, but the part that people miss is a couple of the surgeries he had, he was doing it to rush back sooner, to be with his teammates and play. Some people may have elected not to do it, and kind of ride it out. He handled adversity well and showed his mental toughness, and his work ethic to come back from those things.
“Our doctors and trainers did an outstanding job, like they do on every player. With him specifically, they did nothing above and beyond of the same thing they do. They checked all the boxes and made sure we were all comfortable and feeling good about it. [Coach] Brian [Flores], myself, ownership, we were very comfortable with it.”
There are many reasons the Dolphins decided to take Tua — his leadership among them. Included on that long list: Tagovailoa became more “of an RPO” (or run-pass option) guy his last year at Alabama, and that fits well with the offense Chan Gailey will run in Miami this fall (assuming there is football).
Grier, as he told South Florida reporters during the weekend, considered trade possibilities in Round 1, but in the end decided to stay put and let the board fall to him. The gamble paid off, because he was able to take his quarterback without surrendering any assets.
“You’ve done so much work on everything, so you feel good about everything,” Grier told Breer. “It’s weird. It was a sense of calmness. We’ve done all our work, we felt good about our process, so we identified Tua as a guy that we wanted to take. When he was there, we felt very good about it. There was no apprehension or nervousness, we’re very excited to get a player we targeted at this spot. Yeah, it’s a key position. Everyone understands you got to have one to win in this league, and we felt good about Tua.
“There’s no nervousness or anything. We just thought he was the right guy.”
Breida’s goodbye, hello
Running back Matt Breida bid “adieu” to the Bay Area and hola to South Florida in a social media posting Sunday evening. The Dolphins traded for the 49ers running back for a fifth-round pick Saturday.
Breida wrote the following on Instagram:
“It’s been an honor being a 49er & I will forever be grateful to management, my coaches, teammates & most especially to the Niner Faithful. The bay will always hold a special place in my heart. Was blessed to be able to call this place home. Too my brothers I will love you guys forever. We went through a lot together to build something great and special. We are family forever!
“I’m excited about my next opportunity in Miami. I promise to give everything I have to help our team succeed. I can’t wait to get started, Miami!”
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 10:37 AM.
