As the saying goes, ‘slow feet don’t eat’ at just about every position on the football field. You can’t be heavy-footed and slow to react and expect great things to happen for you in the NFL. And for Tua Tagovailoa, the 2021 offseason has been all about enhancing his skills. That’s quite the contrast to the 2020 offseason, in which Tagovailoa’s focus was getting healthy and making sure he could still play football, period.
Tagovailoa’s best assets as a passer are rooted in his fundamentals — he’s widely been applauded for his accuracy as a passer and that starts from the ground up. A quarterback must be able to align himself to his target to throw with accuracy. And if a quarterback is going to manage the pocket effectively, he’ll need to do so with crisp feet and agility.
Tagovailoa, at his physical peak, has both of those qualities. And it appears as though dialing them in has been a point of emphasis this offseason — based on Tagovailoa’s latest training video.
All Good Things Come From Mobility @Tua 🎯 pic.twitter.com/59qkfRUL8l
— PER4ORM (@PER4ORM) May 18, 2021
Say what you will about Tagovailoa’s arm strength and lack of prototypical stature, he’s certainly doing his part to make sure he’s the best version of himself come September when the Dolphins kick off their season with a showdown against the New England Patriots in Week 1. How good Tagovailoa ultimately is will go a long way in determining the team’s success in 2021; so it offers plenty of optimism to see the second-year quarterback so busy with his training.
But Tagovailoa’s growth must not just come from his footwork and total body strength; he’ll need to be better between the ears as well. And while there are no training montages or viral clips that showcase Tagovailoa’s work in this department, the Dolphins have expressed optimism this offseason that the young quarterback is fulfilling his obligations needed to be a better quarterback on all fronts.