MIAMI — There might be harder things to defend in sports at the moment.
Kyrie Irving, for example, putting his selfish, irrational antivaccine stance above his Brooklyn Nets teammates and all of their fans.
Or Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer, in an Ohio bar fraternizing with a woman not his wife, almost as if he thought it wouldn’t explode into a viral video.
Well, I am here today to defend Tua Tagovailoa.
Unlike Irving and Meyer, who brought all of this on themselves, Tagovailoa’s apparent crime, if I understand it correctly, is that he is not Justin Herbert.
This biological fact has many Miami Dolphins fans (and media) throwing a ton of shade on Tagovailoa — even though he has missed the past two games injured. That s because blame exists to be placed, and it needs to go somewhere with the Fins facing a 1-4 start as they stare into the double barrel of Tom Brady and his defending champion Bucs this Sunday at Tampa Bay.
After 10 wins last season, the wheels have come off this season. The once-raucous-now-emptying bandwagon driven by coach Brian Flores has careened into a ditch. Flores himself is at a pivotal time. A minute ago he was the bright young coach, the smart hire. But the “is-he-in-over-his-head” narrative can come fast in this league.
Let us explore the troubles, and put Tagovailoa in the context of the state of the Dolphins.
To start: Tagovailoa is not competing against Herbert, drafted one spot lower in 2020. He is competing against defenses. He does not need to be better than Herbert. He needs to be as good as the Dolphins need him to be. And to that end it is (much) too soon to conclude he won’t be, to write him off.
The quarterback who was phenomenal at Alabama is still in there.
Based on games played that quarterback is still an NFL rookie in terms of experience as he is set to miss a third consecutive game with a rib injury, expected back Oct. 17 when Miami plays Meyer’s Jaguars in London.
In games he has started and played substantially the Fins are 7-3. His numbers have not overwhelmed, but neither have they been bad, as in 12 touchdowns versus six interceptions. (Jacksonville wishes Trevor Lawrence’s stats were as good right now).
The probability of Tagovailoa improving and becoming a very good NFL quarterback is such I would suggest he is just about the least of the Dolphins’ problems right now.
Miami’s offensive line has been bad. We see it with our eyes, now here are the numbers, courtesy our nerd friends at Pro Football Focus: Tackles Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg rank 67th and 68th so far this season of 73 NFL tackles with starter-level snap counts. Miami’s guards rank only slightly better. Only center Michael Deiter (18th of 33) is rated close to mid-pack.
Herbert’s L.A. Chargers offensive line is really good, by the way.
Herbert also has a top-tier dual-threat running back in Austin Ekeler. Tagovailoa (or Jacoby Brissett for another game) has undrafted journeymen Malcolm Brown and Myles Gaskin.
Herbert has a top-tier wide receivers in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
Miami has quality receivers, too, in DeVante Parker and rookie Jaylen Waddle. (I don’t include Will Fuller, who is always injured, calling to mind the football cliche about how a player’s most fundamental ability needs to be availability).
What Miami does not have is the play-calling or offensive ingenuity to take full advantage of Parker, Waddle and tight end Mike Gesicki.
Co-offensive coordinators George Godsey and Eric Studeville have been cause for a new adage: Two is not better than one.
They are conservative to a frightening (or frightened) degree early in games, only opening up the playbook when behind it seems. Miami mostly has a popgun, check-down passing game that insults the quarterbacks and receivers.
Miami is averaging 5.3 yards per pass attempt, easily dead last in the NFL.
The average gain per completion is 7.47 yards. Also dead last.
Flores’ doomsday quote after Sunday’s loss to the Colts was: “We played bad across the board. Offense, defense, kicking game, turnovers, penalties — across the board.”
(By the way, did you see Indy’s Jonathan Tayor last Sunday? Now that is an actual, quality NFL running back).
Flores also said he/coaching must get better and cited a general lack of execution, calling to mind the famous quote attributed to Bucs coach John McKay during the Bucs’ 0-14 inaugural season:
Reporter: “What do you think of your team’s execution, coach?”
McKay: “I’m in favor of it.”
Flores must know by now his primary problem is unimaginative, flaccid play-calling.
Let’s not forget to mention the sharp downturn on defense. Last season Miami allowed 21.1 points per game, fifth best in the NFL. Right now they are 25th at 27.3. Since the opener, in the three consecutive losses, Fins have allowed 93 points (31 a game).
So, no, don’t start with quarterbacking when dissecting Miami’s troubles at the moment.
That the Dolphins should have drafted Herbert ahead of Tagovailoa based on current evidence is obvious beyond the need for mention.
But that does not mean Tua won’t reach his high ceiling or enjoy a bright future.
That it may take that to save the job of general manager Chris Grier also seems increasingly obvious.
The Dolphins need to fix all of their other problems, let the quarterback situation play out the rest of this season, and then decide if Tua is the long-term fix.
Tagovailoa will have as many as 12 more starts this season to continue to prove himself.
With a little luck, better blocking, the semblance of a ground game, a bit of freakin’ daring in the play-calling — and against odds, perhaps — my money’s on Tua.
