Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill addresses one unique dynamic with Tagovailoa and how he will be used
A quick six-pack of Tyreek Hill notes on a Wednesday:
▪ Hill told Dolphins.com’s Travis Wingfield that he’s excited about playing with a left-handed quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa is the NFL’s only left-handed starting QB.
“I’ve never played with a left-handed quarterback,” Hill said. “It’s going to be very interesting catching passes from Tua. Being a speedster, ball placement is everything.
“Tua putting the ball in the right spot for myself gives me the ability to catch and run, so I won’t have to slow down for any passes. I’m very excited. Can’t wait to get the timing down with Tua. Tua has great arm talent, very precise, very accurate.”
▪ Hill told Wingfield that one appealing factor of playing for Mike McDaniel is he can “help me get drunk off of YAC. Everybody loves a player that can get yards after catch. His play-calling is amazing. I watched San Fran, how they used Deebo Samuel. I’m hoping for the same thing in Miami.”
Hill said that McDaniel told him: “Look, ‘Reek’ just gear up, it’s going to be fun, alright?’
“I’m just going to say this — the way that he utilized Deebo Samuel in that offense was crazy. Deebo Samuel is a freak athlete. I’m just excited. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Hill spoke of “staying up nights thinking of different ways to get myself… and teammates the ball.”
▪ Hill said McDaniel is “going to hold you accountable and also get the best out of you. He’s sarcastic funny. I love the guy already.. He’s probably the funniest head coach I’ve ever met in my life. He’s a dope guy, a fun guy to be around. I can tell that already and his energy is contagious. So I’m excited.
“The way he was telling me he was going to get me the ball, that’s always exciting for a receiver. But my biggest thing is his whole message off the field, man. ‘Tyreek, just be you.’ He kind of sounded like Shrek a little bit because he was like, ‘Just you be you, ‘Reek. Just be you, ‘Reek.’
“And that’s all I can ask for, man. A coach to have my back off the field. So he went to bat for me and I know all 90 guys on this roster are going to go to bat for him — even though I know 90 can’t be on there — but everybody’s going to go to bat for him, so I’m excited to play for the guy, man.”
▪ NFL Network analyst and former NFL cornerback DeAngelo Hall explained it well: “You can have speed all day. But when you beat a guy out of our break, and that’s what Tyreek does all day, people are so terrified of the deep ball and his speed but sometimes that’s the bait.
“I’m going to make you think I’m going deep, but I know I can snap it back and come back 15, 20 yards. He lived doing that in Kansas City. Tyreek Hill is a playmaker that puts fear in opposing defenses.”
▪ NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks said the stress that Hill puts on a defense will not just be vertically, but “horizontally, running crossing routes. In San Francisco, Mike McDaniel saw those guys eat it up after catch. You have a bunch of guys when you can do it with the ball in their hands on short routes, it makes the game easy for Tua Tagovailoa.”
▪ ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky framed this Dolphins offense in an interesting way:
“This offense in Miami will be like basketball on grass. A basketball team that constantly tries to run in transition and get in fast breaks. They are going to be about speed and precision and how many ways can we get multitudes of different playmakers the ball out in space and allow those guys to win in one on one matchups, and instead of a 4-yard box, it’s an 8-yard box.”
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This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 11:39 AM.
