How Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa rated in 25 areas: Where he thrived and where he struggled
Where does Tua Tagovailoa rank among NFL quarterbacks as he concludes his second season?
Here are 25 statistical measures, while keeping in mind that his running game and offensive line were substandard for most of the season and while keeping in mind that he missed four games and most of a fifth.
▪ Passer rating: 20th at 90.1, just ahead of Ryan Tannehill, Davis Mills, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger.
Among first-round quarterbacks from the past two drafts, Tagovailoa trailed fellow 2020 first-rounders Joe Burrow (108.3) and Justin Herbert (97.7) and 2021 first-rounder Mac Jones (92.5), but was significantly better than Justin Fields (73.2), Trevor Lawrence (71.9) and Zach Wilson (69.7).
The 90.1 isn’t bad, but it’s somewhat disappointing because it represents only a modest increase from his 87.1 last season.
▪ Passer rating at home: 9th at 100.9. At Hard Rock Stadium, Tagovailoa was usually a clearly above-average quarterback. Facing Atlanta, the Giants and Jets at home certainly helped, but credit Tagovailoa for playing well in those games and delivering winning efforts against Baltimore, Carolina and New England.
▪ Passer rating on the road: 31st at 80.9. He struggled badly at Buffalo and at Tennessee and was mediocre at New Orleans, but that’s largely a byproduct of the quality of those defenses, combined with the cold, wet weather in Nashville.
▪ Passer rating when under pressure: 27th at 55.3. Only Zach Wilson, Fields and Lawrence were worse. Burrow led the league at 92.4.
Last year, Tagovailoa was also among the league’s worst QBs when facing pressure, with a passer rating of 45.6.
This remains one of the bigger concerns about Tagovailoa’s game. Even though he is nimble at avoiding sacks, he sometimes makes foolish decisions by throwing the ball into traffic when facing a heavy pass rush.
▪ Passer rating with a clean pocket: 12th at 103.0, just behind Herbert at 103.4.
Last season, Tagovailoa had a 99.3 rating with a clean pocket. His and Herbert’s passer ratings when they get good protection are virtually identical the past two years.
But Herbert has been better when facing a pass rush (more so in 2020 than 2021) and completes more big plays (31 completions that traveled at least 20 air yards, more than twice as much as Tagovailoa).
▪ Completion percentage: 7th at 67.8, behind No. 1 Burrow (70.4) and five others. This is a byproduct of the Dolphins not throwing downfield nearly as much as other teams, plus Tagovailoa’s above-average accuracy.
▪ TD passes: Tied for 23rd (with Hurts, Mills, Jackson) with 16. Even considering the games missed, that’s not a great number for 12 starts.
▪ Interceptions: Tied for 18th most, with 10. That total was too high considering the games missed.
▪ Percentage of passes intercepted: 20th, at 2.6. But he also had at least five potential interceptions dropped; he was among the league’s most fortunate quarterbacks in that regard in 2020, per Football Outsiders.
▪ Yards passing per game: 29th, at 204.1. That number was skewed slightly because he was injured early against Buffalo and came off the bench for the second half against Baltimore.
But no NFL team can expect postseason success with a passing game that generates that few yards per game through the air. Ten of the top 12 quarterbacks in yards passing per game are playoff bound; only Herbert and Kirk Cousins aren’t. Blame the Dolphins for not getting him more weapons and a better offensive line, but Tagovailoa also must improve.
▪ Yards per pass attempt: Tied for 33rd (with Josh Allen) and Davis Mills at 6.8. This figure needs to rise for the Dolphins to have a more explosive offense.
▪ Number of passing plays that covered 20 yards or more: 33rd, with 30. Even beyond the looming decision at quarterback, the offense needs a better starting running back, another quality receiver and at least two new offensive line starters.
▪ Sacks per pass attempt: 8th best at 4.9. Avoiding sacks behind a substandard offensive line ranks among Tagovailoa’s strengths this season. But he threw too many interceptions or near interceptions on those plays.
▪ Percentage of third down throws that become first downs: 5th at 45.5 percent (45 for 99). This was the second-most surprising stat about Tagovailoa, behind only...
▪ Percentage of throws on 3rd and 8 or longer that become first downs: 5th at 35.8, which was surprisingly good - just ahead of Herbert.
▪ First quarter completion percentage: 6th at 71.7. Tagovailoa led Miami to points on their first drive in five of his first seven starts this season, with a field goal missed in one of the two other games.
▪ Fourth quarter completion percentage: 10th, at 68.4. But...
▪ Fourth quarter interceptions: Tied for 6th most, with five. So Tagovailoa completed a lot of passes in the fourth quarter to his own team, but too many to the other team.
▪ Completion percentage inside the opponent’s 20-yard line: 2nd at 65.4. That’s one reason why the Dolphins were 12th best in the league in red zone offense, scoring touchdowns on 61.2 percent of their forays inside the other team’s 20 yard line.
▪ Second-half passer rating: 15th at 94.2. His fourth quarter passer rating was 18th at 93.2, but slid late in the season.
▪ Yards on passes that traveled at least 20 air yards: 23rd with 526. And he was 27th in completions of 20 or more air yards, with just 14.
▪ Completion percentage on passes of 20 or more air yards: Third at 48.3 (14 for 29), behind only Kyler Murray and Herbert. But the Dolphins didn’t trust their offensive line enough to throw more of those types of passes.
▪ Fumbles: Tied for 9th most with 9. He’s fortunate that he lost only one.
▪Yards after catch for the Dolphins (including Jacoby Brissett’s starts): 25th. Of the top 10 teams in YAC, only the Chargers aren’t going to the playoffs. So the Dolphins need more players like Jaylen Waddle, who can create yards after the catch. They also need to be more dangerous on vertical throws, since some YAC naturally comes after bombs are completed.
▪ Drops: The Dolphins (for Tagovailoa and Brissett) tied for the sixth most in the league with 24. (The Chargers led the league with 33 drops.) Last season, 12 of Tagovailoa’s passes were dropped.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 1:55 PM.
