Former Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was selected No. 5 overall in the 2020 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins and began the season as QB2 on the depth chart, right below veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Tagovailoa ended up starting nine games, where he tallied 186 completions on 290 attempts for 1,814 yards and 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
His numbers were far from terrible, but he still received plenty of criticism due to how highly anticipated of a prospect he was out of college.
Various reports, pictures and videos have shown that his offseason training will help him in year No. 2, and a change in coaching staff will allow for a more Tua-oriented play-style.
Recently, Tagovailoa spoke to the media and acknowledged his lackluster rookie season and what went wrong.
“Well, I think last year for me, last year wasn’t – I wasn’t as comfortable just in general. I wasn’t comfortable calling plays,” Tagovailoa said on Wednesday. “I think the guys that we had last year were phenomenal. I just didn’t have the comfortability of kind of checking plays, alerting plays and doing that. I just rode with the play even if I knew in a way that it wasn’t going to work. I was going to try to make it work still.”
He also goes on the claim that the play calling was limited when he was in for the Dolphins, but it will be different in 2021.
“That’s on no one else’s fault but my fault,” Tagovailoa said. “Our play calls were simple when I was in. I didn’t have alerts and checks whereas now, feeling more comfortable, I can kind of maneuver my way through these things now.”
Recently, the Dolphins have added some offensive weapons to help Tagovailoa.
“But the firepower that we have this year, it’s good but you’ve got to get it out to them, too. If you’re able to protect yourself and then get it out to them and have them make plays, then you’ll be good.”
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