Let the record state that no quarterback's journey from college to first NFL start has been more strangely eventful or fraught with more noise than that of Miami Dolphins rookie Tua Tagovailoa.
And the noise continues all around, even as that first start happened to be a 28-17 victory Sunday over the good (and favored) Los Angeles Rams.
Tagovailoa arrived out of Alabama as a left-handed quarterback, itself an anomaly, shorter than you would like (6 feet), and coming off surgery not quite one year ago for a serious hip injury.
Complicating things slightly: a global pandemic that interrupted everything at the very time Miami needed to meet with Tagovailoa and work him out to relieve any and all health concerns.
Yet Miami drafted him fifth overall. (Some wondered if the team should have taken Justin Herbert instead.)
Then came the interrupted offseason and the erased preseason so that — except for those few snaps in garbage time against the Jets the week before — Tagovailoa's first action against an actual NFL foe came Sunday.
His first dropback to pass? Aaron Donald in his face. Stripped. Lost fumble.
We haven't mentioned that when Tagovailoa was named the starter, the timing of coach Brian Flores' decision was made somewhat controversial by the reaction of demoted Ryan Fitzpatrick, who expressed his surprise and disappointment, saying he was "heartbroken" the decision came when it did.
Tagovailoa had it easy in his maiden start, thanks to big plays by the Fins' defense and special teams. The kid was modestly OK, completing 12 of 22 passes for 93 yards, with a short touchdown pass and no interceptions.
Me? I was impressed. His decision-making was sharp, he took but one sack, he looked quick and mobile. Whether his hand in it was big or not, he piloted an impressive win.
But the narrative afterward?
We still don't know much about Tagovailoa. We don't know what we have yet.
Seriously? What kind of extreme were we expecting, exactly? A morph of Dan Marino and Patrick Mahomes who threw for 400 yards and five TDs? Maybe four picks followed by a reinjured hip?
I saw from Tagovailoa exactly what I expected: A raw rookie who was going to be asked to do no more than was required as he dipped a toe into the NFL. A kid who needed but was denied a chance to find some sort of real-time comfort zone in preseason games.
Now more noise in the wake of his winning first start.
It was ignited by ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting that Miami decided to start Tagovailoa when it did to get a measure of him in case it might be in a position to high-draft yet another quarterback in next April's draft. In other words, Tagovailoa had then thrown two career NFL passes, but the Dolphins supposedly had a contingency to replace him?
That arose because Miami holds the 2021 first-round draft pick of Houston, via the Laremy Tunsil trade, and the Texans' 1-6 record put the Fins in the running (as of now) to maybe have a shot at the No. 1 overall pick, presumably Clemson's Trevor Lawrence — whose test-positive for COVID has seen nary a drop in stock.
Tuesday morning, on ESPN's "Get Up" show, NFL analyst Greg McElroy posited that Miami certainly should take Lawrence No. 1 if it is gifted that pick — no matter how Tagovailoa fared as rookie.
Former NFL executive Mike Lombardi was making the media rounds bleating similar stuff.
Former coach Rex Ryan: "Man, he looked short in that pocket."
Respectfully, can we be a little quiet and let things play out a bit.
Can we stop hunting for Tagovailoa's replacement following his first NFL start?
I doubt Houston is going to finish awfully enough to put Miami in Trevor territory. If so — if your choice is having Trevor Lawrence or Tua Tagovailoa and trading the other for a king's bounty — well, yes, please.
Meantime, let Tagovailoa learn and grow and find his comfort and his rhythm. Do not treat his inevitable first career interception as any sort of ominous harbinger.
Maybe even be a little bit generous and count one touchdown pass and no interceptions in an upset win a good start?
There is no equivocating: Miami needs this kid to be really, really good. Franchise-lifting good.
Now give him a chance to be.
