Big year incoming for Tua?

The development of Tua Tagovailoa was a big part of the Miami Dolphins success last season. Tagovailoa took a massive step in 2022 with it being his first year under head coach Mike McDaniel. This has left a lot of Miami fans feeling very optimistic for the future. The 25-year-old has some great qualities but still has some cracks in his game.

Pros

Tagovailoa proved to all of his doubters last season that he belongs in the league and has the potential to do great things. The Miami organization backed their guy last season by going out and getting some great receiving weapons.

They brought in the speedster Tyreek Hill to go with Jaylen Waddle with their speed causing big problems for defences. Furthermore, they brought in the likes of Raheem Mostert and Cedric Wilson. What really stood out about Tagovalioa’s game was his pin-point accuracy. He had a great ability to put the ball where the receivers wanted it.

This was one of the improvements we saw from previous seasons as he threw the ball in the position it needed to be instead of waiting for a receiver to get there. Getting the ball out quick was a massive positive for the Hawaii native. The reason for this is that the offensive line wasn’t the best for Miami last year. This meant that Tagovailoa needed to get the ball out quick otherwise he was going to get crushed by defensive linemen.

Like fellow AFC East quarterback Josh Allen, Tagovailoa’s third season was a breakout year, with his PFF grade of 81.9 being the best of his career so far.

Cons

As previously stated, last season was Tagovailoa’s best one to date. Having said that there are still some big problems that he has to deal with.

Consistency is key in the NFL, and Tagovailoa has occasionally been guilty of making some poor decisions. This led to him sometimes forcing the ball into where it shouldn’t be. Even though the addition of Hill and Waddle were a massive help in the improvement of Tagovailoa’s production, it also exposed a weakness in his game.

Arm strength has been an issue for Tagovailoa throughout his NFL career. The lack of power sometimes resulted in deep balls being under thrown. This could have meant that the play didn’t reach its full potential as the receiver lost momentum when catching the ball. There has been a theme that has plagued Tagovailoa for the duration of his career.

Of course, this is his ability to remain healthy for a full season. This has been a problem since his college days. However, last season the amount of head injuries nearly forced the young quarterback into early retirement which fans concerned.

If Tagovailoa is to remain healthy then he could do big things in the NFL, but he can still make improvements to his game.