Skip to main content

Should Tua Start in 2020?


See the source image
(Tua is #1, photo from si.com)

A question bigger than Dolphins fans, the starting of Tua Tagovailoa in 2020 is all over ESPN, CBS, Foxsports, etc, and is a constant topic of online debate. Coming off a season ending hip injury in 2019, he was unable to participate in the Combine. The Covid pandemic prevented him from having a typical pro day, but he managed to get into a gym and send all 32 teams the video (https://www.instagram.com/p/B-GThUTpZve/ ). Despite not being able to evaluate him in person, the Dolphins must have liked what they saw on the tape. And what more do the Dolphins know about Tua's medical history than the public? Probably a lot. But they also have the memory of passing on Drew Brees.
https://assets.si.com/images/drew-brees-miami-dolphins-cover.jpg
(History that didn't happen, photo from si.com)

Drew Brees entered free agency in 2006 with a serious shoulder injury, and Nick Saban's Dolphins were not comfortable with the risk.  Saban brought up this history before the 2020 draft when he was making his pitch for Tua. Were the Dolphins persuaded by this or by some secret medical information? Drew Brees started for the Saints in 2006 and threw for 4600yds in 16 games, but that was his 6th year in the NFL. Starting a six year veteran, with or without the injury, is a completely different question than starting a rookie. With the Dolphins, we would be starting a rookie on a team that is rebuilding everything. The O-line is almost completely new, with maybe Jesse Davis and/or Michael Dieter returning. The new additions to the O-line look good, with Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt likely to start.

But who will the Dolphins put behind this developing offensive line? My money is on Ryan Fitzpatrick. Despite being almost 90 (OK, 37), Fitzpatrick showed good mobility in 2019 and finished the season with more than 400 rushing yards (the most of any Dolphin). Might he get hurt running around? Sure, but we probably want to start him until he does. But what if he throws 6 picks in a game like he did in 2016 with the Jets? Who do we put in next? Josh Rosen, and here's why. If Fitzpatrick throws 6 interceptions in a game, we are probably losing. By then team energy is down and this is the wrong time to roll out your future franchise quarterback. This is why we have Josh Rosen, to come in when we are down 59-10 to the Ravens. We need to wait for the right moment to showcase Tua's talent. That moment could come as early as week 3 when we play a terrible Jaguars team, or.......week 13 against the Bengals.


(The RIGHT motivation, photo from somewhere....)

After losing by 5-points to Joe Burrow and LSU at home, what more motivation could Tua need to take back national opinion of who deserved to go #1 in the 2020 draft? By week 13, we hope that Coach Flores has a playoff contending team and all the new pieces are starting to click. Hopefully Fitzpatrick is still performing as the starter and takes the Dolphins to the playoffs, but week 13 will be Tua Time if the Fitzmagic is over.

Next up, should the Dolphins sign Logan Ryan - another expensive corner??

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bill Game Recap: Review, Key Takeaways, and More

     In the Dolphins home opener vs. the Bills, they took a close loss with a final score of 31-28.   The Dolphins offense was fantastic. Ryan Fitzpatirick had a great day, going 31/47 for 328 yards and touchdown. The ground-game was decent with a total of 99 yards, almost half from Myles Gaskin. Myles Gaskin had 7 carries for 46 with an average of 6.6 yards per carry, but 0 touchdowns. Mike Gesicki had a outstanding day, with 8 cathes for 130 yards and a touchdown, which is great for me because I have him on my fantasy team. Parker had a decent day, coming back from that hamstring injury. Williams had a terrible day with one catch for 26 yds, and he had the drop on fourth down that would have been a touchdown. The Dolphins Offensive Line played decent, with a total of 3 sacks. Overall, the Dolphins offense played a pretty good game. Mike Gesicki had an outstanding catch, you can watch that by clicking on the link below. Watch Mike Gesicki's Outstanding One-Handed Ca...
6 comments
Read more

Welcome Finatics! It's Tua Time!!!!

Welcome Finatics! It's Tua Time!!!!! Tua!!! (Photo from www.phinphanitic.com) Hello and welcome to my new blog. It's exciting times for Fins fans after a high-rolling free agency and a whopping 2020 draft. There are so many things to discuss, but let's start with free agency. Let's talk about the secondary, and that starts with Byron Jones (Connecticut, #27 in 2015, Pro-bowl 2018). 5 yrs , $82.5 million ($54M guaranteed) contract has bought us a lock-down corner. Byron Jones thrives in man-coverage situations - and the 2019 Dolphins ran man coverage defense the 3rd most of any team. Sounds like a fit so far. While he doesn't get many picks, we still have Xavien Howard for that. Howard was tied for the most interceptions in the league in 2018. The next two signings - Shaq Lawson and Ereck Flowers - were both first round picks  (Flowers - Hurricanes, #9 in 2015 and Lawson - Clemson, #19 in 2016). Shaq Lawson has developed throughout his career, ...
4 comments
Read more

Can you really never have enough corners?

( A freezing Logan Ryan, photo from usatoday.com) As many of you have heard, there is a lot of buzz about the Dolphins signing corner Logan Ryan. Ryan is a 7-th year veteran that was a third-round draft pick out of Rutgers in 2013, and started his NFL career with the Patriots but played his last three with the Titans. Logan Ryan is not a long-arm, lock-down corner like Byron Jones, but he can tackle and forced four fumbles in 2019. He gets some picks - more than Byron Jones but not as many as Xavien Howard. However, one of those picks was Tom Brady's last throw as a Patriot that Ryan took in for six. That's worth something. But is it worth $10M/yr? To put this in perspective, the Dolphins have about $23M left in cap space (from overthecap.com). The secondary is currently about 20% of the salary cap ($50M of $240M) and is already filled with expensive veterans like Xavien Howard and Byron Jones (~$30M cap just for these two!). There is also about $15M of dead money fro...
Post a Comment
Read more