Miami Dolphins land their franchise quarterback: #TankforTua is now #TakenTua | Opinion
They did the popular thing. They did what the game tape suggests is the logical thing. So the only question that remains now is whether the Miami Dolphins did the right thing in selecting Tua Tagovailoa with their first pick of the 2020 NFL Draft?
#TankforTua came to its expected end Thursday evening when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the Dolphins selected him.
Now we have #TakenTua.
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier watched the announcement from his home and coach Brian Flores, hanging with his sons Miles and Maxwell, also watched from his home.
It was a calm, serene scene from these two because the Dolphins brain trust apparently zeroed in on Tagovailoa quite some time ago. So no drama. No apparent worries, technical or otherwise.
And this culminates a year in which the team actually set up a strategy for their 2019 season that revolved around the idea of selecting the Alabama quarterback. Think about that for a minute.
The Dolphins were publicly thinking about Tua since January of 2019, and they finally got him in April of 2020.
And between then and now, team scouts flocked to Alabama games and practices. The Tua game cutups got passed around the entire organization to anyone with personnel acumen. Even club owner Stephen Ross displayed his open interest in Tua, attending several of Alabama’s games when he typically spends Saturday watching his beloved Michigan Wolverines.
So this is more than a review the Dolphins did on their new quarterback but rather a relationship they forged — one that is already well out of its infancy.
All this is good. It suggests there should be no surprises.
It suggests everyone is comfortable with what’s about to happen, including Tagovailoa, who wanted to come to the Dolphins for quite some time.
This makes Dolphins fans so happy.
The grand majority of them, of you, wanted Tagovailoa to Miami. You dreamed of it. You fed social media hashtags for it. And you threatened the team with boycotts of ticket sales or television consumption if it didn’t happen.
You got your wish. You should celebrate with some socially appropriate something or other.
And now, after the joy and happy talk, you know you’re going to get some hard truth, right?
Because last September, this decision would have seemed like a no-brainer.
And in October it would have seemed like a no-brainer.
But in late November, Tagovailoa fractured his hip when taking hit a from two defenders during a game against Mississippi State. And he required surgery and had a plate inserted in the area. And suddenly, the no-brainer required some serious study.
But the Dolphins feel they’ve done that study. They had their doctors poke and prod Tua at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. And those doctors were satisfied the player was recovering nicely. ESPN reported Thursday that the hip recheck on Tua from April 9, which produced scans reported as “pristine,” was with doctors assigned by the Dolphins.
So, obviously, the Dolphins felt they had inside information on Tagovailoa’s medical situation.
You know what that means?
The team expects Tagovailoa will stay healthy.
Nobody can predict that. And the truth is no one can predict the future health of any player who steps on a football field.
But players who have been chronically injured in the past often continue to suffer chronic injuries going forward. It’s a thing with some guys.
The Dolphins are banking Tagovailoa isn’t one of those guys.
And they’re betting the player they saw perform on tape and in person at Alabama will translate to Hard Rock Stadium. And they’re betting Tagovailoa will be every bit as good and every bit as durable as Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.
Herbert went to the Los Angeles Chargers one pick and about eight minutes after the Dolphins picked Tagovailoa. So this decision, consequential in so many ways, has a dual edge.
Tagovailoa must be healthy so he can grow and develop and perform for Miami.
And even if he does that, the measure of this pick will go further in that Tagovailoa must be better than Herbert, whom the Dolphins bypassed.
This is going to be interesting to watch unfold. Everything worked out here, seemingly as scripted from way back when.
The Dolphins got the quarterback they wanted. They got their quarterback of the future. It’s exciting and promising.
Is it football season yet?
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 9:46 PM.
