Kelly: Where has Tua Tagovailoa’s athleticism gone? | Opinion
At this point we have seen just about every possible version of Tua Tagovailoa that could be offered.
We have seen college legend Tua. Insecure rookie starter Tua. Light up the league Tua.
Heavy Tua, slim Tua, concussed Tua, efficient Tua, and turnover-prone Tua.
Problem is, the only version of the Miami Dolphins quarterback being consistently offered these days is statuesque Tua, and this has to be my least favorite of all.
There’s something missing from Tagovailoa’s game, and it’s not All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 4.
Where has Tua Tagovailoa’s athleticism gone?
It was nowhere to be found in Miami’s 21-17 win against the New Orleans Saints, which sacked the Dolphins’ franchise quarterback four times and routinely threw his operation off by moving him off his spots.
He wasn’t the most mobile quarterback in the NFL — or the division — to begin with. But Tagovailoa had some athleticism to him back in the day.
Tagovailoa was able to escape sacks earlier in his career.
He was able to execute play-action fakes, and roll-out plays effectively.
He had pocket presence, and the ability to step up under pressure to find his targets downfield. Now that sparingly happens.
Tagovailoa even ran for yards and first downs earlier in his career, but that was before a third documented concussion, the one that came from a goal line scramble against the Buffalo Bills, which led to a team mandate that he keep himself safe and available for the season.
But this season, safe Tagovailoa resembled an immobile version of the 2023 Pro Bowler.
He’s a step slow on everything.
He’s rarely ever put on the move, and when he is, it looks like he’s running in slow motion.
And more importantly, he’s a sitting duck when there’s a pass rusher heading his way.
I have watched every moment of Tagovailoa’s football career from his junior season at the University of Alabama till now, and it has never been this bad. His limited athleticism has never been this glaring.
And here’s the most troubling part of this discovery; I was warned about it by an executive for an NFL team before the 2020 NFL Draft.
This team wasn’t happy with its quarterback situation heading into that season, but didn’t have Tagovailoa on their draft board.
For that team, Tagovailoa was given a medical red flag by the team’s doctors, and the reasoning given was a prediction that Tagovailoa’s NFL career wouldn’t go past eight seasons.
Here we are five games from concluding Season 6, and it’s become clear the undersized, and concussion-prone quarterback who is guaranteed $54 million of the $55 million he’s under contract for in 2026, is aging like a ripe banana.
While eight seasons might sound like a long time, and is indeed double the average NFL career, with today’s quarterback-friendly rules NFL quarterbacks can play well into their 40s if their arms, and bodies allow it.
But according to the executive, their team doctors felt that type of career was unlikely for Tagovailoa, so their team took him off their draft board.
Now, in fairness, the word that was put out before the 2020 Draft was that if Miami hadn’t selected Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick the Los Angeles Chargers would have taken him at No. 6. So like all draft prospects, there is no unilateral, consensus opinion. And that’s fair.
The Dolphins’ decision-makers at the time seemingly didn’t fear Tagovailoa’s college hip injury, which prevented him from working out for NFL teams, or his limited size when Miami selected over Justin Herbert and Jordan Love. They didn’t factor it in when they gave him a massive contract extension despite the two documented concussions he’d suffered in his four seasons.
But the way Tagovailoa’s been moving lately — or to be specific, the lack of mobility — has me wondering if we have seen the best from him?
While it’s not impossible to win big with Tagovailoa, this franchise shouldn’t be building around an immobile, unathletic version of him.
While Tagovailoa might be one of the most accurate quarterbacks in NFL history, he’s also one of the most sackable in today’s game.
It’s not just about evading sacks where Tagovailoa’s disappearing mobility comes into play.
Tagovailoa’s footwork is what drives his throws, and tha ha’s been off for most of this season.
Is the hip injury Tagovailoa initially suffered in 2019, and the one he injured last year that sidelined him for the final two games of the 2024 season, preventing him from triggering like he once did?
On the third-and-1 play in the third quarter where a rolling-out Tagovailoa threw a catchable ball behind Julian Hill, would that pass have been on target if Tagovailoa could still run like he did in the first three years of his career?
Will Tagovailoa always slide short of the first down like he did on a third-and-4 play Sunday, late in the fourth quarter as the Dolphins tried to close out the win, which led to a change of possession when Ollie Gordon II was stopped behind the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-1 run.
Can we expect four sack games every week from this point out, even with six offensive linemen on the field, which is what has given Miami’s offense new life during this recently winning streak.
If the answer to any of those questions is yes — even a maybe — the Dolphins have to find an alternative, someone else they can build around after the 2026 season, which is when most of the guaranteed money on Tagovailoa’s contract concludes.
I don’t know who will make that call, and what the viable alternatives are at quarterback since the 2026 draft class of quarterbacks is lacking and the free agent crop is mediocre.
But the Dolphins’ decision-makers need to realize this problem is real, a hindrance to the team, seemingly isn’t going anywhere.
This story was originally published November 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM.
