Former NFL star gives harsh assessment of Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa
Tua Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins quarterback, is one of the most divisive athletes in football.
Is he truly an outstanding quarterback? Or is he simply the result of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, two excellent wide receivers?
Former NFL defensive tackle Chris Canty is not a believer.
On a recent broadcast of ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike, Canty questioned Tagovailoa’s ability to live up to a new, lucrative contract.
“They’re telling you that we need all these players around Tua in order for him to be good,” Canty stated. “There’s no way he’ll be able to live up to whatever contract they give him, which I believe will be worth more than $50 million per year. “There’s no way he’s going to keep that promise.”
The Dolphins selected Tagovailoa, who played collegiate football at the University of Alabama, with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
After a pair of mediocre seasons to start his career, Tagovailoa exploded in 2022, throwing for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while completing 64.8% of his throws and establishing a league-high passer rating of 105.5. That came over 13 starts, with Tagovailoa missing four games due to concussions.
Tagovailoa’s breakout season also coincided with the entrance of Hill, who arrived in Miami via trade the previous offseason.
Then, this year, the 26-year-old led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He completed 69.3 percent of his passes and had a 101.1 passer rating on his way to his first Pro Bowl appearance.
Despite Tagovailoa’s impressive statistics, many people, including Canty, remain skeptical of him.
Some people credit Hill and Waddle. Some people credit head coach Mike McDaniel’s system. Others argue that Tagovailoa is a combination of both elements.
Still, Tagovailoa needs to get out there and make those throws. If he wasn’t getting the ball to where it needed to go, Hill and Waddle wouldn’t be generating such impressive stats.
That being said, it is worrying how much Tagovailoa has battled against strong teams and how hard he has worked in colder temperatures.
We’ll see if the Dolphins reward Tua Tagovailoa with a contract extension before the 2024 season starts, or if they let him test free agency next winter.
Leave a Reply