The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I'm not down on Tua. I think he can improve and I do think that much of his problem is adjusting to the NFL as compared to playing in college for Alabama. He had the luxury of a terrific offensive line and 2 of the best WR's in college. So there's going to be an adjustment period and I fully expected this before drafting him and a large part of the reason that I wanted to draft Justin Herbert as he did not have the same benefits in college as Tua did. In hindsight I think I was right about both Tua and Herbert. Hopefully Tua will get a lot better this year, but that's as much credit as I will give him, he needs to get better. Whether he will or not is still to be determined. If he does, great but if he doesn't then Miami is going to be looking for a QB again.

https://www.reddit.com/r/miamidolphins/comments/ms2xnp/is_tua_tagovailoa_a_future_franchise_quarterback/

You have to factor in that Tua was coming off a major hip injury and also had no real offseason to prepare for his job like rookies in most years do.  I fully expect to see an improved Tua lining up under center in September.

Why'd you have to say that. You just reminded me of the other reason why I wanted Herbert over Tua.  :'(

You also have to factor in that GM Chris Grier has a chubby for Alabama players.  He's taken Kenyan Drake, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Tua, and Raekwon Davis.   

Off topic, don't be surprised if he takes Smith at 6, even if Chase and/or Sewell are available.

While I agree with most of the OP's comments/positions taken, I don't understand the purpose of this new topic.  All of this has already been covered ad nauseum in other topics since the conclusion of this past season.

I've read a lot of critiques on Tua and most tend to either be mostly positive towards him or mostly negative. This article struck me as a completely unbiased take on him rather then trying to prop him up or cut him down. That's all.

mmm, when he opened with Tua's "underwhelming 2020 season" you kind of knew where this one was going...

Ok, it was not all negative and highlighted some major positives like his performance against the blitz etc, where he rated top or near top in all categories against the 2020 rookies. Let's face it, that's pretty impressive stuff, and already demonstrates his ability to read defenses and audible/move to adjust.

However the reviewer really lost me with his comments about deep balls, or more specifically some of the examples he picked. The long throw downfield against the Cardinals drew a PI flag and a healthy first down. Err, somehow that was a bad throw?

Then the throw to Parker against the Bengals which was purely a dropped catch in the end zone that should have been a sure touchdown - he can argue like hell it was the wrong option, but again the throw was right on the money.

Then there's Jakeem Grant (aka hands of stone / crap himself whenever there is someone near him) who fumbles a perfectly thrown ball in double coverage to gift the Chiefs an INT, and then his continual references to Grant as the free receiver. That's a major problem right there we've been talking about during the season and off-season - if Grant is our best option as a deep threat (especially when both Parker and Williams are injured) our QB is in trouble, period.

I'll take Tony Romo's critique of Tua from his commentary during the Chiefs game, where he was really impressed from what he saw from the rookie. Give him a proper deep threat option and a running game (two major elephants in the room the reviewer conveniently overlooked), and then let's assess where he's at.

The fairest assessment of Tua is this ... when he had his starting receivers he did pretty well and when he didn't he struggled to throw the ball up the field. The last game he had absolutely no one to throw to and it showed.

And the O-Line around this time switched from Good at Protecting & Bad on Run Blocking to Bad on Protection and Good on Run Blocking.

I don't know about that.  The reviewer noted that protection from pressure was better for Tua than it was for Fitz.  Although the reviewer seemed to give the credit to Tua having better pocket presence, I disagree and say it was just due to a rookie OL coming together as the season went on, whether it was run or pass blocking.

My take is what I have previously said, Miami needs to draft/sign receivers that go up and fight for the ball vs. a speedy receiver that just tries to outrun his coverage.  Pitts seems to be that guy, but I doubt he'll last until the 6th pick.  BTW I saw a video of Miami's top plays last year and several had Gesicki going up and fighting for the catch.

MIA already has receivers that can't get separation and have to fight for every ball.  They were one of the worst teams in the league in average yards of separation per throw.

The Dolphins desperately need a receiver that CAN get separation, so Tua has an option other than throwing a jump ball.

Couldn't agree more although I'd add we also need them to stay healthy. Arguabley our two best receivers get hurt a lot ... looking at Preston Wilson and Devante Parker. Maybe if they could get separation and not have to make acrobat catches they wouldn't get hurt as much.

If they could, they would. But they can't, because they aren't very good.

I think Preston Williams could be pretty good if he stayed healthy...but he can't.  Maybe this is his prove it year, or move on.

I don't understand how we get all these receivers made out of ramen noodle held together with duct tape lol

Because they make it through college eating McDonalds, drinking Cokes, Paryting, not stretching, not training properly, not getting enough sleep etc and they think they can continue to do that throughout their NFL careers. When the trainers tell them to start eating responsibly and taking care of their bodies properly they don't listen because they've done the same thing all their lives and it's worked up till now. They don't realize that that they are getting older and they have just raised the bar as far as physical exertion goes and their bodies need to be taken care of or they are continually going to be rehabbing little nagging injuries. It sometimes takes 2 or 3 years for them to figure it out and sometimes they never figure it out.

Powerhouse schools that continuously put guys in the NFL are the exception.  Do you think Alabama players have that issue?  Hell no.  The school has a football budget somewhere around $65 million.   They make sure their players have the proper fuel to practice football and monitor what they eat.   The foods in the athletic dining hall are color coded:

Green- eat plenty of these (ex. fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs and fish)
Yellow- eat in moderation but increase your intake on more intense workout days (ex. pasta, potatoes, rice, cereal)
Red- eat sparingly (ex. fried chicken, ice cream, cookies, and prime rib)