Nick Saban dishes on Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, says he will be ‘great face’ of Dolphins
Alabama coach Nick Saban said Thursday that he was hopeful the Dolphins would draft his quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whom Miami selected with the fifth overall pick in last week’s NFL Draft, and believes he will be be “a great face of the organization there.”
In a video conference conversation with three South Florida media outlets Thursday morning, Saban said:
“I was really, really hopeful that Miami would take him. Tua’s such a great person. Really was a very, very good leader here. One of the most popular players that we’ve ever had with our fans and our fan base. I think he will be a great face of the organization there.
“I was just rooting for the guy. I felt so bad about him getting injured. Would those consequences of that injury affect his draft status dramatically? Probably as anxious as I ever was about a player getting drafted, so I was really excited about the fact that Miami ended up taking him. I think this is going to work out great. Tua’s a great player, and he’s going to be an even better person in the community and the organization.”
He reiterated the need for Tagovailoa to learn to protect his body more when being pursued by defenders.
“No. 1 thing we’ve tried to convince him of here is he’s got to learn self-preservation is part of the job,” Saban said. “Tua’s a great competitor. You don’t want to take his competitive spirit away. He’s always trying to make a play, even when the play breaks down. And that’s good. He does it well. He’s made a ton of plays in those circumstances.
“But I still think there are times when there’s just nothing here. Several times when he got hurt here, I felt like there’s no reason for him to even get hit. The receiver fell down, whatever the circumstance was, there’s nothing there. Play the next play. Sometimes the other guys wins, but I think that’s probably No. 1. No. 2, he is so instinctive.”
Saban addressed other issues:
▪ On Tagovailoa learning an NFL offense: “Once he learns the offense, and he has confidence and knowledge and experience in what they want him to do, I think everyone will be pleased with how he goes out there and competes. I’m sure it’s going to be a work in progress. It always is, especially at the quarterback position in the NFL. The game speeds up a little bit. The looks you get might be a little more complicated than what they are.
“A lot of simplicity in college comes with the RPO game, because it’s a one-person read, although [Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian] Sark has been an offensive coordinator in the NFL so a lot of our stuff here was not just related to that. He’s got a pretty good background in some of the things he’s going to have to learn. I think that knowledge and experience is going to help him grow and develop.
“And I think quarterback is probably the most difficult position to play in sports, if you don’t have good players around you. He always had good players around him here. Hopefully that will help them there. I don’t really know your personnel that well. I don’t really get into that stuff that much in the NFL. But hopefully that will be a benefit to him, and he’ll make those players better as well.”
▪ On his conversation with Dolphins general manager Chris Grier before the draft:
“He was there when I was there, years ago. Chris and I talk a lot about a lot of things and a lot of players. I think they had a great feeling for Tua. They had come to some of our games when he was playing. I really didn’t have to convince anybody of anything in the organization. They really thought the guy was special. Only question and concern was his medical situation. I think our doctors here did a fantastic job. Dr. Cain and Dr. Andrews are both tied into the NFL and have been for years.
“Actually, when we went through the Drew Brees/[Daunte] Culpepper thing, I flew to Birmingham to talk to them because they operated on both of them. They have a lot of history and a lot of credibility in the league. That was probably helpful to a lot of teams. One of the things we did was make sure when you couldn’t have recheck physicals because of the pandemic and we really couldn’t have pro day, that was a little but of a disadvantage for Tua.
“We made sure that we did a complete physical here and sent it to all the teams so they would get updated information. I think all of those things, the way our medical staff handled things, was good for all organizations.”
▪ He reiterated he wanted Brees as Miami’s quarterback in 2006, but that the medical recommendation compelled the team to pivot to Culpepper:
“But we made a decision organizationally with Drew Brees. He was going to be the quarterback in Miami. That was a medical decision. Not a coaching decision. And the medical decision was a concern that he had shoulder surgery, and it might affect his future. So I’m not saying that in a critical way. That’s just the way it went.
“Obviously it was not a good decision, but it was a medical decision. It was a decision that was decided by our medical staff and it was as simple as that. He was our first choice. He was there. Before we ever traded for Daunte. And he didn’t pass the physical. So I just wanted to make sure that we didn’t not pass Tua on the physical. I guess that was my point” in saying before the draft that a team might regret bypassing Tagovailoa, as he did with Brees.
▪ On similarities between Brees, who’s right-handed, and Tagovailoa, who’s left-handed:
“I don’t like to compare players. But I will just make this one comment: I think there are some similarities in the style of the way these two guys play the position. And I actually played against Drew Brees when he was in college at Purdue and he was a nemesis to us, when I was at Michigan State. So I have a recollection of how he played as a college player. And looking at Tua as a college player I do think there are some comparisons in style.”
▪ On former Alabama defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, who was selected 39th overall by the Dolphins:
“Raekwon has got all the tools to be a really good player. He’s got great size. He’s hard to block. He is athletic. He can move fairly well. I think the big thing with Raekwon is he needs a lot of reps. He needs a good coach who is going to get him a lot of reps and teach him well. That will help him be a more instinctive player, which he improved on every year here. We were always trying to get his ability to match his production. And he improved on that each and every year. And I think he’ll continue to improve on it as an NFL player.
“I think that Raekwon is a great person. He’s got a great personality. Football is important to him. He’s a hard worker. Very emotional guy. I think sometimes you don’t want guys to make emotional decisions [but] you want to play with emotion. But not be emotional. He’s learned how to do that a lot better. And I think my comments about repetitions to have ability match production was what I was kind of alluding too, which I think he’s improved on every year. And I think that he’ll continue to improve on that as an NFL player.”
DECISION PENDING
NFL teams must decide by Monday whether to exercise the fifth-year options on 2017 first-round draft choices, and the Dolphins are not expected to pick up those options for defensive players Charles Harris and Taco Charlton.
The 2021 fifth-year option for both players would pay them $10.1 million and would become fully guaranteed on the first day of the 2021 league year next March. The salaries for 2021 also would become guaranteed if either sustains a major injury in 2020 that would keep them sidelined into the 2021 season.
Harris, selected 22nd overall in the 2017 draft, has 3.5 career sacks in 41 games.
Charlton, claimed by the Dolphins off waivers from Dallas last September, had five sacks in 10 games for Miami, including five starts, but was placed on the inactive list in three of the Dolphins’ final five games, in part because of his deficiencies against the run.
Both players will be on the bubble to make the team this coming season.
[UPDATE: Charlton was released on Thursday afternoon.]
▪ Add Northwestern State offensive tackle Jonathan Hubbard to the list of rookie undrafted free agents signed by the Dolphins. Hubbard, 6-5 and 274 pounds, started 26 games, primarily at tackle.
Miami’s other nine rookie free agent pickups were previously reported by the Miami Herald. That group includes Pittsburgh linebacker Kylan Johnson, Ole Miss defensive tackle Benito Jones, Kansas State offensive tackle Nick Kaltmayer, Iowa State defensive tackle Ray Lima, Arkansas State wide receiver Kirk Merritt, McKendree University wide receiver Matt Cole, Middle Tennessee State defensive end Tyshun Render, South Carolina center Donell Stanley and Montana State tight end Bryce Sterk, a former defensive end who has been switched to offense.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 11:14 AM.
