Tua not setting up receivers for YAC

[Spider-Dan]

From the game ball thread:

Tua - He didn't light the world on fire but his slant passes looked fierce and I just saw so many opportunities for first downs with YAC.  It's a play we haven't had in the arsenal.

As usual, the game wasn't on in my area.  But I watched the Tua highlight package on nfl.com and it was... not encouraging.  Almost every pass in this HIGHLIGHT PACKAGE was behind, low, or otherwise requiring the receiver to stop, dive, etc.  VERY few were in stride with the receiver having a chance for YAC.

Is that what the game looked like live?

[fyo]

From the game ball thread:
As usual, the game wasn't on in my area.  But I watched the Tua highlight package on nfl.com and it was... not encouraging.  Almost every pass in this HIGHLIGHT PACKAGE was behind, low, or otherwise requiring the receiver to stop, dive, etc.  VERY few were in stride with the receiver having a chance for YAC.

Is that what the game looked like live?

I thought all the crossing patterns looked great and with plenty of yac. Waddle dropped a huge out route (might have been a crossing route all the way across the field) where the ball went right through his hands.

The short/quick stuff in particular looked good. The protection was horrible, though, and Tua wasn't great under pressure. His sense of the pocket was decent in that he moved around / bailed when needed, it just wasn't always in the right direction. For some reason he seemed to want to escape to his right, which resultated in two terrible throws (one an int). It could have been because the left side of the line (anchored by rookie Eichenberg) was the weakest spot, but I'd have to rewatch the game to tell.

I didn't like the play-calling. There seemed to be a lot of slow-developing routes. I get that we had a bunch of healthy receivers (for once!) and a shiny new toy in Waddle, but when the quick stuff is working VERY well, why keep trying the slow stuff where your line can't protect your quarterback?

[EDGECRUSHER]

Next week we will be at "full strength" with Fuller back and he will be needed against the Bills defense. I wouldn't expect to see Praker get a lot of targets except in the redzone, should be a lot of quick slant routes.

[CF DolFan]

Perfect examples about watching highlights or even just a portion of the game because that wasn't the case Spider. Tua did a great job of hitting both Parker and Waddle in stride to get YAC. That's been a topic of discussion on Miami sports radio today. Tua wasn't perfect but he played a decent game. What stood out was his accuracy in hitting them which we have never been able to do.

[CF DolFan]

Next week we will be at "full strength" with Fuller back and he will be needed against the Bills defense. I wouldn't expect to see Praker get a lot of targets except in the redzone, should be a lot of quick slant routes.

I don't know how mauch Fuller will help.  Joe Rose was going off on this during the morning show. He said it's very obvious Tua isn't as in sync with the starters as he is with the guys who played preseason. 

[Fau Teixeira]

I actually thought Tua played pretty well, there were some drops that hurt his stats.

[Spider-Dan]

So here's the video I'm talking about:

https://www.miamidolphins.com/video/tua-tagovailoa-s-best-plays-from-202-yard-game-week-1

#1- Didn't lead Waddle and he had to jump a little, but Waddle was just standing still and waiting when the ball was thrown, so not really Tua's fault.  Acceptable throw
#2- Behind Waddle and he had to jump again.  Bad throw
#3- Receiver was backpedaling so not much Tua could do.  Acceptable throw
#4- Led the receiver.  Good throw
#5- run
#6- behind Parker but in some traffic (however, not such that he couldn't hit him in stride).  Mediocre throw
#7- behind him, but if he leads there it might be a pick 6.  Good throw
#8- behind Waddle but reasonably safe; Waddle had his man beat and if Tua hits him in stride it could be 6.  Acceptable throw
#9- low; Gaskin has to go to the ground to get it.  Bad throw
#10- Hits Gaskin in stride.  Good throw
#11- Perfect spiral, 35+ yards in the air to where only Parker can get it.  Great throw
#12- Hits Gaskin in stride on a crossing route.  Good throw
#13- Hits Waddle in stride.  Good throw
#14- Hits Parker in stride on a crossing route.  Good throw
#15- Behind Parker and high on a crossing route.  Bad throw

So of the 14 "highlight" passes, I saw 1 as great, 6 as good, 3 as acceptable, 1 as mediocre, and 3 as bad.  In a highlight reel, I'd like to see more than half the passes be "great" or "good."  (In fairness, Tua had 2 completions that didn't make the highlight, but I don't know how impressive they were.)

[CF DolFan]

I actually thought Tua played pretty well, there were some drops that hurt his stats.

I think he had 4 drops yesterday.

[pondwater]

I thought all the crossing patterns looked great and with plenty of yac. Waddle dropped a huge out route (might have been a crossing route all the way across the field) where the ball went right through his hands.

The short/quick stuff in particular looked good. The protection was horrible, though, and Tua wasn't great under pressure. His sense of the pocket was decent in that he moved around / bailed when needed, it just wasn't always in the right direction. For some reason he seemed to want to escape to his right, which resultated in two terrible throws (one an int). It could have been because the left side of the line (anchored by rookie Eichenberg) was the weakest spot, but I'd have to rewatch the game to tell.

I didn't like the play-calling. There seemed to be a lot of slow-developing routes. I get that we had a bunch of healthy receivers (for once!) and a shiny new toy in Waddle, but when the quick stuff is working VERY well, why keep trying the slow stuff where your line can't protect your quarterback?

I didn't watch a lot of Tua's college stuff so I could very well be wrong. But wasn't Tua considered a mobile/scrambling QB? If so, whenever the pocket breaks down or too much pressure he should be headed upfield toward either sideline. I think that's something Tannehill did well when he was here.

[Pappy13]

I didn't think Tua was that bad with ball placement but that is supposed to be his strength and I haven't really seen that myself that much which is a bit disappointing. The big problem that I have with Tua is that I don't think he sees the field well. It's not really that he locks onto receivers or anything it's just that I sometimes don't feel that he sees the plays developing and anticipating throws well and while I hate to say it I think the New England player has a point, if he doesn't get the ball out of his hand to his first receiver, he's not that good at spotting someone breaking open. Now that could just be because he's still very young and learning and that will get better, but he doesn't have a lot going for him in my opinion. He's small, doesn't have a great arm it's just average, he's not particularly athletic (before you stop me, take a look at that INT play and the one where he gets outside the pocket and tries to slide, whoa he looks really bad in both of those plays) and not sure his pocket presence is all that great either. I'm on the fence so far about his leadership skills, so what exactly is his strengths if not for accuracy? The fact that he's small, not particularly great at moving around in the pocket and not particularly athletic lead me to believe his chances of getting hurt are in fact pretty high so that worries me as well. It's not that I don't like Tua, I just don't think his game fits the NFL game particularly well, he was a better fit for Alabama.

[pondwater]

I didn't think Tua was that bad with ball placement but that is supposed to be his strength and I haven't really seen that myself that much which is a bit disappointing. The big problem that I have with Tua is that I don't think he sees the field well. It's not really that he locks onto receivers or anything it's just that I sometimes don't feel that he sees the plays developing and anticipating throws well and while I hate to say it I think the New England player has a point, if he doesn't get the ball out of his hand to his first receiver, he's not that good at spotting someone breaking open. Now that could just be because he's still very young and learning and that will get better, but he doesn't have a lot going for him in my opinion. He's small, doesn't have a great arm it's just average, he's not particularly athletic (before you stop me, take a look at that INT play and the one where he gets outside the pocket and tries to slide, whoa he looks really bad in both of those plays) and not sure his pocket presence is all that great either. I'm on the fence so far about his leadership skills, so what exactly is his strengths if not for accuracy? The fact that he's small, not particularly great at moving around in the pocket and not particularly athletic lead me to believe his chances of getting hurt are in fact pretty high so that worries me as well. It's not that I don't like Tua, I just don't think his game fits the NFL game particularly well, he was a better fit for Alabama.

If he had the protection from the OL that Mac had, how would that affected his performance? He needs some protection. In my opinion, the reason he looks lost in the pocket is because he's having to focus on not getting hammered by the defense. I'm not sure why we can't fix the OL after all these years. Once a new QB gets shell shocked it's hard to reverse the effects with the same team, he'll always be looking over his shoulder.

[CF DolFan]

If he had the protection from the OL that Mac had, how would that affected his performance? He needs some protection. In my opinion, the reason he looks lost in the pocket is because he's having to focus on not getting hammered by the defense. I'm not sure why we can't fix the OL after all these years. Once a new QB gets shell shocked it's hard to reverse the effects with the same team, he'll always be looking over his shoulder.

While it shows signs of getting better it is pathetic how long our O-line has been bad.

[EDGECRUSHER]

While it shows signs of getting better it is pathetic how long our O-line has been bad.

Tons of 1st and 2nd rounders used on it, make some trades and free agency moves, changed the O-Line coaches a few times.

At this point, it's obvious that we are cursed by Gypsies.

[CF DolFan]

Tons of 1st and 2nd rounders used on it, make some trades and free agency moves, changed the O-Line coaches a few times.

At this point, it's obvious that we are cursed by Gypsies.

LOL ... it sure seems like it.

[masterfins]

Miami goes on the road to New England, divisional rival, they are a 3.5 underdog; yet they WIN.  And as predicted people gotta start bitchin about Tua and the O-line.