Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has captivated the city of Miami in his four months of being a Dolphins. While he’s not expected to start the season, his reportedly dominant play during training camp could lead to him earning the starting role sooner than many anticipated.
The No. 5 overall pick from the 2020 NFL draft will likely start his rookie season listed under veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick on the depth chart. While many would like to see Tagovailoa play as soon as possible, especially since the last time he was active in-game was when he fractured his hip, it’s quite possibly a better scenario for him to learn from Fitzpatrick.
As discussed during recent media availability, the two quarterbacks are close friends and the relationship they have is one of healthy competition.
Videos of Tagovailoa practicing at the Miami Dolphins training camp are few and far between. When their social media team decides to tease the fans by including him in a clip, it’s usually a quick glimpse of the former National Championship-winning quarterback.
Cameron Wolfe, who covers the Dolphins for ESPN, reported today that Tagovailoa looks better in recent practices than he did at the beginning of camp.
Week 2 of Dolphins camp, we’ve seen a more aggressive, effective and fluid Tua Tagovailoa. He makes an occasional rookie mistake but starting to look a lot like the player we saw at Bama. Another good day today: You can feel the energy out at practice when Tua makes a big play.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 25, 2020
Wolfe also corroborates beliefs that Fitzpatrick will be the Week 1 starter, but claims Tagovailoa’s will get his moment sometime this season.
“Ryan Fitzpatrick is still the Dolphins expected Week 1 starter, and he should be based on everything we’ve seen in practice — that hasn’t changed,” tweeted Wolfe. “But it’ll be Tua’s time at some point and he’s building toward that after rocky Week 1. Miami definitely has an interesting QB room.”