Analysts bemoan Dolphins’ failed rebuild: It’s “not going work” with Tua. “This.. is over”
Often, it feels like a fun celebration when your team plays in a prime time game.
Not so for the Dolphins, whose prime time game Thursday instead offered an opportunity for pundits to bemoan their sad state of affairs.
NFL Network lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah summed it up this way Thursday afternoon:
“They had a lot of draft capital, courtesy of the Laremy Tunsil trade and some other moves they made and they’ve tried to invest those in the right places. They’ve done it along the line of scrimmage, offensive linemen and defensive linemen. They just haven’t hit home runs.
“You can say maybe there’s a single here, double there, but they haven’t got the impact players they need on the line of scrimmage…. Jaylen Waddle is starting to come on. There are some good players on the perimeter. But in order for them to take that next step, and they’ve gone backwards, they need those guys in the trenches to play better.”
Tua Tagovailoa received no strong endorsements during NFL Network’s marathon pregame coverage, though Michael Irvin said it’s too soon to judge him.
“Great quarterbacks can sort of overcome some of that stuff,” Jeremiah said. “They don’t have that right now. We’ll see how Tua progresses the rest of his career. But at this point, he’s not good enough to elevate the play of everybody else…. And your big money players on the outside haven’t played as well as they have in the past.”
So can Tagovailoa be the Dolphins’ longterm answer at quarterback?
“I’m not sure exactly why you would want Tua to be your longterm answer,” NFL Network analyst and 10-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Joe Thomas said. “When you’re looking at, ‘hey this is going to be our franchise guy,’ you’re saying: ‘What’s his ceiling?’ You want a guy with a high ceiling so when you do lock him up to a longterm contract, you can expect really good play. And if your roster has ebbs and flows with talent, he’s going to be able to make up the difference.
“But when you’ve got a guy like Tua where his ceiling is maybe middle of the pack quarterback, you’re saying everyone else has to be perfect around him for us to be able to make that Super Bowl championship run, which I’m pretty sure is the point.
“If you ask Steve Ross from the Dolphins, he’ll say, “I’m trying to win a Super Bowl here.’ So you’ve got to ask yourself: If I have a quarterback where his ceiling is middle of the pack and he’s banged up a lot, is he really someone I want to commit to longterm and build my roster around?”
NFL Net’s Steve Smith, the five time Pro Bowl receiver said: “He’s 6 of 14 in 20 plus yard [passes this season]. He’s a dink and dunk type of guy. Ultimately, it’s unfair to put it all on him. This offensive line is so bad….
“When you’re trying to buy a house with bad credit, it ain’t going to work. That’s been a problem with the Miami Dolphins. They’re trying to buy a house and fill out that credit report. They don’t make enough money. They don’t have any track record to show they can overcome it. It’s not going to work. This experience is over…. You know what his time is? It’s on the bench.”
NFL Net’s Michael Irvin said of Tagovailoa: “I don’t think we have near enough information to make that decision right now. Tua has only played 15 games. We need to give this kid more time. They’re last in rushing. It’s not like he has a whole lot of help. The defense is supposed to be good. They’re 30th in defense.”
Fox’s Greg Olsen said the Dolphins “have done nothing but undermine [Tagovailoa], done nothing but cut his legs out.”
Fox’s Jay Glazer said of the Dolphins: “Despite them denying it, they were absolutely in on Deshaun Watson. The two biggest teams were Carolina and Miami. Carolina didn’t care if we settled [22 civil lawsuits]. In Miami, there was a requirement for him to settle with 22 women in the lawsuits. Houston Texans were originally asking for three No. 1 and two No. 2s and a player. The Dolphins were willing to part with it.
“But when Deshaun was finally willing to settle, the attorney for those women said, ‘We can kind of go after that a little bit more.’ Everything had to work perfectly for this to happen in time for the trade deadline. Nick Caserio, the Houston GM, said if they’re willing to do this now, let me wait for them to settle and I can actually get more.”
Thomas said the last time that Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson “came home to South Florida, he set records for points and yards passing. You know what? That was a long time ago. Lamar Jackson is a better passer now and the Dolphins defense is even worse. Unfortunately for Dolphins fans, this might be a blood bath.”
Thomas is referring to Baltimore’s 59-10 win in Miami to open the 2019 season.
Marc Ross, the NFL Network analyst and former New York Giants director of college scouting, told WQAM’s Joe Rose in the past week: The Dolphins “are not a good team No. 1. When Austin Jackson is being moved around, you missed on him. You can hope and wish guys get better, but once guys are struggling badly, that’s a red flag and you know you missed.
“[With Tagovailoa], it’s kind of like something new every week. When a guy has to come out and say ‘I’m don’t feel not wanted’ and has to defend himself from going on, that’s not the ideal way to groom a young quarterback. You want him to feel you are the guy and he’s our future. You want the guy to not have to worry about that sort of thing. If he’s good enough, you move your franchise forward.
“It’s one thing after another with him… Last year, Ryan Fitzpatrick. He’s had to deal with all of that. I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. When I look at his body language, even the head coach, the answers are odd. It’s always shadowy talk about this.”
How many games do you need to see a first or second round pick to see if they can play?
“What are the things he did really well in college, when I evaluated Tua, I said during the draft, there are certain things he really struggled at and you still see them when he plays,” Marc Ross said.
Former Ravens coach Brian Billick told Rose: “Right now, the way Tua is not developing has got to be a concern. How could [the Deshaun Watson rumors] not [affect Tagovailoa]? The organization has to be very clear what they’re doing. If indeed they’re shopping, that’s pretty telling of what they think of the fifth overall pick.”
Here’s my Thursday Dolphins 6-pack with lots of notes.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 7:33 PM.
