As Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa enters Year 2 in Mike McDaniel’s offense, he has become ‘fluent’
If Mike McDaniel’s offense is a foreign language, this time last year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa knew the basics: greetings and common phrases.
Offseason practices allowed the Dolphins starting quarterback to piece sentences together, or in a football sense, learn the intricate play calls and execute them in team drills.
A breakout 2022 season in which Tagovailoa led the NFL in passer rating showed just how proficient he had become in Year 1. But as the Dolphins’ offseason workout program comes to a close with mandatory minicamp this week, the second-year head coach has seen his quarterback show even greater mastery of the offense.
“It’s been really cool in a year’s time, how he’s not only learned the language but is now fluent in it,” McDaniel said Wednesday morning, before the second of three mandatory minicamp practices.
The many questions that followed Tagovailoa, 25, into his third season and first with McDaniel have mostly been answered. Paired with McDaniel and the speedy wide receiver duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, Tagovailoa was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league, throwing for a career-high 25 touchdowns and 3,548 yards.
Though Tagovailoa missed five games, including Miami’s season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round, because of a pair of stints in the NFL’s concussion protocol, the Dolphins showed their faith in him by exercising his fifth-year option.
And now playing under the same offensive scheme in consecutive years for the first time since high school, Tagovailoa’s offseason has been a concerted effort to not only build on the successes of last season but answer the remaining questions that surround him.
“For me, it’s continuing to work on the little things,” Tagovailoa said after Wednesday’s practice. “One of things that we’ve been harping on is operation. When I think of my position, I think of, what have I done as a leader for the guys up front, for the guys out there to have gotten them better.
“I think we’ve been doing a great job working operation, doing some cadence deals, motions, trying to work a lot of things just to give some eye candy for the defense and force them to communicate on the back end.”
Tagovailoa has taken on jiu-jitsu to work on the way he falls when he hits the ground, which has drawn rave reviews from Tagovailoa and McDaniel and has also been incorporated into quarterback drills. As Tagovailoa spoke after practice, his cut-off hoodie showcased broader shoulders, the results of bulking that Tagovailoa hopes will allow him to absorb hits without injury.
During practice, he has worn the NFL’s new quarterback-specific helmet designed to help prevent head injuries. Tagovailoa said he is still feeling out the new headgear and hasn’t decided whether he will wear it in the regular season.
He and the Dolphins have been just as intentional in trying to improve his on-field performance.
During multiple practices, Tagovailoa and the other quarterbacks have worn camera devices on the side of their helmets, which allow the coaches to only see Tagovailoa’s perspective but hear his communication with teammates.
“For all quarterbacks, it’s a tool to help really drive home certain coaching points and just see what they’re seeing to be on the same page as the player,” McDaniel said last week.
The focus, more so externally, on Tagovailoa during last year’s offseason practices was his ability to connect on deep passes with Hill, particularly after early-career struggles and labels of a weak arm. Such plays have been less frequent during this year’s sessions, especially with Hill sidelined and facing a Vic Fangio-led defense that aims to limit downfield completions.
But Tagovaioloa has mainly avoided turnovers, and McDaniel has been impressed with Tagovailoa’s daily execution, even if the highlights are rarer.
“For his game, you’re less concerned about the really good plays,” McDaniel said. “Your attention is less drawn to that and it’s more about consistency of the entire practice. ... He had his games where he made some big-time plays and then he wasn’t as happy with the rest of the game. So kind of looking at it through that lens, he’s really been one of our more consistent if not — I think he’s been as consistent as anybody day in and day out, which has residual effects to the whole team. I know the team can feel it as well.”
Ultimately, Tagovailoa’s 2023 season will be judged on whether he can improve from last year’s strides — and remain on the field to do so. But if his offseason workouts have been any indication, the foreign language is starting to become second nature.
“This dude is everything you’d look for in a starting quarterback in terms of professionalism, how he attends to his job, how seriously he takes it,” McDaniel said. “He takes pride in making sure he does his job, but more importantly, how he makes others better at their jobs.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 5:24 PM.
