No team got rid of the ball faster in the passing game than the Miami Dolphins in 2023. According to PFF, Tua Tagovailoa averaged just 2.25 seconds per pass attempt last season, the quickest in the NFL among starters.
That’s a standard the Seattle Seahawks aren’t expecting to continue with Skylar Thompson taking the reins for the Dolphins on Sunday in a Week 3 matchup.
“He’s willing to keep the ball a little bit longer than Tua,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said of Thompson on Wednesday. “Tua was playing really, really fast and the ball comes out pretty quickly on time, on target. [Thompson]’s got the same ability to do those things, but I’d say the ability to also — if you add the extended play to that element — that’s something you have to account, probably more so than with Tua.
“There’s not a huge sample size. It’s been a long time. You’re talking about a couple years of growth from he started last in a playoff game.”
Thompson took over for an injured Tagovailoa last week when the Buffalo Bills already had a 21-point lead and the game was largely out of hand. But he threw 14 passes and averaged 2.40 seconds on those attempts. While slower than Tagovailoa, that number still would’ve ranked third among starters last season.
It was a similar rate in preseason when Thompson averaged 2.44 seconds per pass attempt.
But when Thompson last started a game, it was a different story. The then-rookie quarterback averaged 2.92 seconds per throw in 2022 (3.04 seconds on all dropbacks) and paid the price as he got sacked four times in the Dolphins’ playoff loss to the Bills.
Most indications are that the Seahawks shouldn’t expect that version of Thompson on Sunday. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel says the third-year quarterback is a “different man” than he was two years ago.
While a drop-off from Tagovailoa is to be expected, it’s probably safe to assume that the quick-strike Miami offense will try to stay true to itself and try to get the ball out fast, even if it has Thompson at the wheel.
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