Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa still encountering some ‘yeah, buts’ from network pundits
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Monday:
▪ A few national TV analysts apparently cannot offer unconditional praise and appreciation for Tua Tagovailoa’s stretch of four consecutive games with a passer rating topping 100, the NFL’s longest active streak.
There’s also a “yeah, but” attached to the praise.
ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth, the former NFL cornerback and ex-president of the NFL player’s association, said he believe Tagovailoa can sustain his recent play but added this: “I don’t think we’re ever going to see Tua at an MVP level-type player. But what we’re seeing is the type of above average quarterback you build something around if you get the rest of the pieces.”
OK, that’s not an outrageous thing to say, and Foxsworth is entitled to his opinion. But the view here is that it’s far too soon to know if Tagovailoa — with an elite supporting cast — can or cannot become an elite quarterback. Give him a great running game and offensive line, and who’s to say he couldn’t?
Then there’s NBC’s Chris Simms, who angered Dolphins fans recently by saying the Saints’ Taysom Hill is “every bit as accurate as Tua,” and then doubled down last week.
“I know this is going to sound like I’m a Tua hater,” he said.
But… “The whole world can throw the ball 5 yards down the middle. You don’t need to draft a quarterback at No. 5 in the draft to throw the ball 5 or 6 yards over the middle or like Logan Ryan said, run to the left and throw the ball 1 yard into the flat.
“You put Taysom Hill in that situation, yes. They ask Taysom Hill to throw 50 yards down the field, 40 yards down the field, 30 yards over the middle, things they don’t ask Tua. So idiots on Twitter, shut up. You’re an idiot. Are you dumb or are you mean? Which one is it?”
Here’s what the numbers say: Tagovailoa this season has a 96.1 passer rating, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions, and completed 70.9 percent of his passes.
What’s more, he has completed 9 of 17 passes that have traveled at least 20 air yards, which is second best in the league in completion percentage on such throws, behind only Kyler Murray. He has 377 yards, one touchdown and one interception on such throws.
Hill has a poor 60.1 passer rating, two touchdowns, five interceptions and completed 58.6 percent of his passes. On passes that have traveled at least 20 air yards, he has completed 1 of 7 passes for 27 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
So while Simms was likely correct when he told me in February 2020 that Justin Herbert was a better prospect than Tagovailoa, he’s wildly off base in saying Hill and Tagovailoa are remotely comparable as passers.
Ryan, meanwhile, apologized for his comment about Tagovailoa.
“I didn’t mean any disrespect,” Ryan said, adding that he was only trying to be funny when he had said that as a high school quarterback, “a lot like Tua I was a lefty, I could throw 2-yard passes to the left. I made a light-hearted comment about me playing quarterback. I think he’s a good player. He’s humble. He approaches the game the right way, and he made game-winning plays to beat us, and they won the game.
“I’m not a sore loser. I don’t hate on players in the league. I have a lot of respect for players in this league. I’ve been in this league, and he’s doing it the right way. I wish him the best, and I want him to know there’s no disrespect there or any bad beef there. Just a comment that went the wrong way and I was trying to be funny, and it wasn’t funny, and I don’t want to disrespect him.”
The 33rd Team, Mike Tannenbaum’s new website/think tank, noted that the Dolphins are 27th in screen usage (7.3%), and Tagovailoa is 24th in percentage of throws behind the line of scrimmage (20.4).
But he’s sixth in percentage of throws of 3 yards or less (36.4) and fourth in throws of 5 yards or less (48.5). He has the third-lowest percentage of 20-plus yard throws (6.9).
None of that should be an indictment on Tagovailoa; he’s doing exactly what the Dolphins are asking of him. If the Dolphins had a better offensive line and running game, they would ask Tagovailoa to throw downfield more — and there’s no reason to believe he couldn’t handle it.
In fact, when he has a clean pocket, he’s completing an NFL-best 77.3 percent of his passes, per Pro Football Focus.
On the flip side of Simms are ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky and NFL Network’s David Carr, two former NFL quarterbacks who have offered unconditional praise for the Dolphins’ quarterback.
“I don’t know what else he has to do” to quiet doubters, Carr said.
And Peyton Manning praised Tagovailoa in an ESPN Plus film breakdown, explaining on one play that his “accuracy is awesome. He’s putting the ball on the outside hip of the receiver.”
▪ What’s one thing that defensive coordinator Josh Boyer has done to help during this five-game win streak?
“We’re giving offenses different looks to see how they react to it,” defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah said. “Coach Boyer has done a great job of disguising plays, all out blitzes. We went back to our old things. Glad he’s switching it up, giving offenses different looks.”
▪ The Dolphins, on their Twitter account, have been encouraging fans to vote for Xavien Howard, Jevon Holland, Ogbah, Christian Wilkins and Jaelan Phillips for the Pro Bowl.
What would a Pro Bowl berth mean to Ogbah?
“It would mean I’m doing my job, [doing] what’s best for the team,” he said.
The Dolphins and Ogbah haven’t agreed to a contract extension, even though the sides have discussed it for months. An impending unrestricted free agent, Ogbah said he instructed his agent (Drew Rosenhaus) not to give him updates once the season started.
Ogbah, incidentally, said he grew up watching former New York Giants great and current TV personality Michael Strahan, adding “he’s a class act off the field and on the field. He’s the player I wanted to mirror my game after.”
▪ Ogbah played a word association game with reporters on Monday. Here’s what he said about his defensive line teammates:
Wilkins: “Joker”
Raekwon Davis: “Dominates games”
Zach Sieler: “His work ethic. Hard worker, nose to the ground.”
Phillips (who’s mostly a linebacker): “See ball, get ball.”
Adam Butler: “Unselfishness.”
And what does he want teammates to think of him? “I‘m a leader by example,” Ogbah said. “I’m not a rah-rah kind of guy, but I come to work and do my job. Like coach Flores says, professionalism. Keep my head down and be the best I can be for myself and my teammates.”
▪ After not having a positive COVID-19 test since Sept. 6 (Austin Jackson, Adam Shaheen), the Dolphins have now had four in the past five days, with running backs Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed, Phillip Lindsay and Jevon Holland.
Cornerback Byron Jones said players are remaining vigilant.
“Throughout the entire season we’ve been lucky the first two, three months,” Jones said. “Guys are smart and understand don’t go out too often, wash your hands, take care of each other and get to Sunday.”
▪ Quick stuff: If the Dolphins win out, they have an 88 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to the New York Times’ simulator. If you believe the Chargers (8-5) and Ravens (8-5) will make the playoffs, there are basically eight other teams (including Miami) competing for two playoff spots...
Jaylen Waddle — who debuted his “waddle” celebration after scoring a touchdown against Carolina — said “people have been sending me videos of me doing it next to a penguin. I got some work to do for sure.”
Here’s my Monday Dolphins piece with news from Brian Flores’ press conference, including a Will Fuller update.
Here’s my Monday Miami Hurricanes 6-pack with recruiting news and other things.
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 5:06 PM.
