Opposing NFL coach suggests Dolphins need to play Tagovailoa. And what Tua has been up to
A six-pack of Tua Tagovailoa notes on a Friday:
▪ The Miami Dolphins have not publicly revealed whether they would like to play their rookie quarterback this season.
But another NFL coach, curiously, has weighed in on the topic.
Asked by an Alabama radio station whether he would play Tagovailoa or a veteran quarterback, Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians didn’t mince words.
“I think it all depends on his health; if he’s healthy I’m playing him,” Arians told 100.9 FM in Alabama. “I don’t think you learn anything holding a clipboard. You know, I had Peyton Manning his first year, Andrew Luck his first year, Ben [Roethlisberger] was one of those guys that went in by accident because Tommy Maddox got hurt. You miss all the practice reps, you miss the game reps. I don’t know what you learn holding a clipboard watching.”
Tagovailoa sustained a serious hip injury in a game last November, but both Tagovailoa and doctors have insisted he will be able to play this season.
One person who spoke to the Dolphins’ front office came away with the impression that while it’s likely Ryan Fitzpatrick will begin the season as the starter, Miami isn’t opposed to playing Tagovailoa as a rookie if he earns the opportunity at some point this season.
Coach Brian Flores said Thursday that the Dolphins’ doctors haven’t been able to examine Tagovailoa since the team drafted him because of the NFL’s COVID-19 restrictions. But before the draft, Dolphins doctors signed off on Tagovailoa’s health.
▪ What has Tagovailoa been up to? Working out in Birmingham, Alabama, and taking part in online classroom sessions with Dolphins coaches, including offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and quarterbacks coach Robby Brown.
“I want to be able to play,” Tagovailoa said during last week’s video game session with New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, part of a campaign to promote small businesses.
“We’ve been doing Zoom meetings as a team, being able to get with my position coach, my offensive coordinator, sitting down with him, getting into the playbook. I’ve been fortunate to have a pretty good set-up here. The Dolphins sent over some equipment so I can work out and I also have rehab in Birmingham.”
▪ Among analysts with national forums, NFL Films’ Greg Cosell and NBC’s Chris Simms have expressed more non-health-related concerns about Tagovailoa than others.
Here was Cosell’s concern conveyed in a chat with Rich Eisen: “I like Tua, but he’s a certain kind of quarterback, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I did not see him as transcendent. I saw him as a very efficient system quarterback. If he’s used that way, which is the way I believe he should be used, I believe he can be very effective. I don’t view his talent as transcendent.”
But why?
“I don’t view him as having the same level of talent as Joe Burrow,” Cosell said. “Both don’t have particularly great arms. Tua is not a power thrower; he’s a rhythm thrower. When the timing is there and the back foot comes out, he’s really, really good. He has a strong tendency to climb the pocket when there’s no pocket. He moves himself into pressure, creates his own pressure. There are some things he needs to clean up. My guess is the Dolphins will put him in the right circumstance, and he will play sooner rather than later.”
▪ Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin, who recruited Tagovailoa to Alabama, told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt that when he went to Hawaii to recruit him “in spring training, I was just blown away. He was so accurate with the ball. He didn’t miss anything, especially deep ball accuracy. I brought back my report to coach [Nick] Saban.”
Kiffin said Saban likes to know “who are [recruits] most likely to be like over the years that we’ve seen. I came back and said this guy reminds me of Steve Young, left-hander, similar size, similar movement around the pocket. Very smooth thrower. Someone is going to get a great player.
“I think [Saban] said, ‘Let’s not crown this guy Steve Young yet — he’s still in only high school.”
Saban, by that point, hadn’t been to Hawaii to see Tagovailoa.
Kiffin said “then he came out to Tuscaloosa and threw out there and coach [Saban] was blown away. [Saban] was very high on him, too.”
▪ Auburn defensive backs coach Wesley McGriff shared with me his experience twice facing Tagovailoa as an opposing defensive coach:
“His decision-making and his release of the football are so fast; he can go through his progressions and still be a pinpoint passer. When you play a guy that can fake to his right and then throw pinpoint to his left, that’s hard to defend. He has a knack for extending plays with his feet and keeping his eyes downfield. When defensive backs [leave their receiver to chase Tua], he will make you pay.”
▪ Why didn’t Detroit take Tagovailoa at No. 3 so it could get something in return from Miami for him? Lions general manager Bob Quinn recently answered that question on a Detroit radio station.
“I would say much easier said than done,” Quinn said, via the Detroit News. “How do I know Tua was [Miami’s] guy? How do I know they didn’t really want an offensive tackle, which they had talked a lot about. We don’t trust each other as GMs. I worked with [Dolphins general manager] Chris Grier for a year.
“My first year in the league, Chris was in New England in 2000. So I know Chris. Ultimately, like you said, it’s a game of poker. On draft weekend, I take no one’s word. I couldn’t sit there and truthfully, for the Lions organization, consider something like that because you never know what’s going to happen.”
I will have Heat and Hurricanes posts later today. My Dolphins and others posts will return when I return in a couple of weeks.
Here’s my Thursday night piece with a look at what the Dolphins are paying each of their undrafted rookies and some notes.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 11:32 AM.
