The early play of Tua Tagovailoa as the Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback has certainly done well to inject excitement into the fanbase and create expectations that Tagovailoa is equipped to handled the pressure of playing the position in South Florida at a high level. Miami’s search for a proper heir to Dan Marino has been a long, difficult journey — and while Tagovailoa has much to do before he’s able to successfully close the book on the team’s search, he’s well on his way.
The Dolphins are 2-0 with Tagovailoa as the starter and their wins have come in very, very different ways. Week 8 against the Los Angeles Rams was a wild, thrilling win that featured a whole lot of defense and some key special teams plays; whereas Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals saw Tagovailoa’s “arrival” as a starter with just a few key defensive plays sprinkled in.
When you add it all together, Miami should feel as though no matter what kind of script the game follows, the Dolphins will be ready and able to be in position to secure wins — thanks in large part to Tagovailoa’s early flashes. ESPN’s “NFL Matchup” put Tagovailoa under the microscope this past week and explored what exactly the rookie quarterback has been showing through his first two starts and why he appeared well positioned to springboard his play as a result of the early baseline:
@Tua has been making plays and showing why the @MiamiDolphins took him with the 5th pick overall in the draft. @MattBowen41 explains. pic.twitter.com/GRrS26TLZR
— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) November 14, 2020
Using the full field of play and having comfort working his eyes completely across the field, this is the kind of mental processing and footwork that strong quarterback play is made of. It would be understandable if the Dolphins kept him out of such reads as much as possible — but while the Dolphins aren’t breaking out a bunch of exotic pass concepts, they’re clearly willing and able to let Tagovailoa work through multiple reads. They could be vertical or horizontal but Tagovailoa’s done well with what has been put on his plate thus far, as illustrated by “NFL Matchup” analyst Matt Bowen.
The question now is what the Dolphins put on his plate next. Expect a little bit more each and every time he aces a test.