Dolphins must hope Josh Allen script writes itself with Tagovailoa - in more ways than one
Quarterbacks Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa are nothing like each other physically.
Buffalo’s Allen is a strapping 6-5 with a cannon for an arm. Tagovailoa is at least four inches shorter and came into the league a far more accurate quarterback than Allen was.
But ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky made an interesting point comparing the two:
Orlovsky cited how the Bills improved the cast around Allen after his second season, and his passer rating jumped from 85.3 in the second year of his career to 107.2 in his third.
With Tagovailoa’s situation, “it’s a little like Buffalo and Josh Allen in his third year where they got [Pro Bowl receiver] Stefon Diggs and beefed up the offensive line and hired Brian Daboll as a play caller, who totally understood what Josh was going to be good at,” Orlovsky said.
“They used him the exact way his skill and talents were going to allow him to thrive. I think that’s exactly the similar situation Tua now has in Miami.”
Allen stands as the best recent example of a huge third-year jump. He went from 20 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in year two to 37 and 10 in year three.
The Dolphins will be giddy if Tagovailoa can make the same jump from his year two numbers: 90.1 passer rating, 16 TDs and 10 interceptions.
Yes, Allen’s physical stature gave him more of a chance to make that jump. But Allen didn’t make that ascent until the Bills imported a Pro Bowl receiver and a better offensive line, just as the Dolphins have done with Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead.
Tagovailoa already is in the top third of the league in accuracy. So hoping for an Allen-like jump, while awfully optimistic, certainly cannot be ruled out.
If you missed my story in February, here’s my study examining how contemporary quarterbacks play in their third season compared with their second.
As for whether the Dolphins are good enough to seriously challenge the Bills in the division, that’s unclear.
ESPN’s Marcus Spears and NFL Network’s David Carr insist the Dolphins have positioned themselves to have a legitimate chance to overtake Buffalo. But NBC’s Cris Collinsworth warns that Buffalo is the best team in football.
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▪ Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, also a former Dolphins executive, told Pro Football Focus that the Dolphins are his surprise team for this season.
“I think this type of offense will help Tua to take it to another level,” Spielman said. “There’s no question, and everybody saw the talent that he had at Alabama. It’s just a matter of him growing into the position at the NFL level, and I think that Mike McDaniel will do a great job as far as getting him to get the ball out of his hands to make quick decisions to get into a rhythm because I think he’s pretty good if he’s got a run game going.
“He can get into rhythm, they can evolve in the play-action pass, take the shots downfield when there is. But it takes so much pressure off that quarterback when you’ve got a strong run game and you can do play action.”
▪ After signing their draft class, plus Sony Michel and Melvin Ingram, the Dolphins have $15.6 million in cap space, according to the NFL players association. A large chunk of that money can be carried over to next spring, when the team’s cap space will be snug.
This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 3:40 PM.
