Tua-Kyler time: QBs renew old rivalry
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wears No. 1. So does the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray. They dueled in college. Now both want to show who’s the one in NFL.
Who’s the real No. 1?
The Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa and the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray — who both rock the num
ero uno on their jersey — will battle that out Sunday in the desert.
We would call it the start of a rivalry, but it’s really just the latest chapter of what could be a decadeslong saga.
This is their first meeting as pros, but it’s not their first rodeo.
They were the two brightest stars of the 2018 college football season, capped by a four-week showcase in which Murray, of Oklahoma, edged out Tagovailoa, of Alabama, to win the Heisman Trophy, only to see Tagovailoa prevail when their teams met in the national semifinal.
“We spent a couple of days together doing the whole Heisman, college football awards,” Murray said this week. “He was hurt at the time, but his family, they are one of a kind. Really nice people, great people, showed nothing but love throughout that whole week. Nice to me, nice to my family. Obviously, the love was reciprocated.
“The times that I’ve been around him, I can’t say anything bad about Tua — great dude, down to earth, great player. I don’t know him too well, but the times that we were around each other was nothing but good times.”
Tagovailoa’s take?
“I’m very excited to go up against him. I would say first impressions when I met him, he’s pretty jacked up. For as short as he is, he’s — I mean, this guy’s rocked up.
“But he’s very competitive,” Tagovailoa continued. “He’s very personable, too. I got to meet his parents as well at the Heisman ceremony. Very good family. Going against guys like that who are very competitive and you know you’re going to get their best, I think that’s going to be a fun one.”
Since Tagovailoa opened the door, let’s walk through it.
Tagovailoa and Murray are many things. Immensely talented. Wildly
popular.
But tall?
Nah.
Tagaovailoa is listed at 6 foot even. And yet he has a good two inches on Murray, who turned down a career in baseball to play football.
A generation ago, would either have been drafted in the first round — let alone the top five?
It’s a question worth asking.
Football, until recently, worshiped prototypes. Teams wanted their quarterbacks to stand 6-3, weigh 220 pounds and to throw the football a mile.
Today, that seems not only antiquated, but foolish. Lamar Jackson was the league’s unanimous MVP last year, and he’s a quarterback just as confident (and probably even more effective) running as passing.
“I think good players come in all shapes and sizes,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “Some people have their prototypes, let’s call it, at each position. Some have them at quarterback and O-line and D-line. I think there are good players, good quarterbacks, who are short. There have been good quarterbacks that are tall. I think good players are good players are good players.”
Flores added: “For me it’s about the talent level of the quarterback, the leadership, things of that nature. The intangibles.
There is a lot more to playing that position than height, weight and speed, as well as every other position.”
Murray, for now, is the better player.
The Cardinals have the league’s No. 1 offense (419.1 yards per game) and are eighth in scoring (29.0).
Murray — who has completed 66.8 percent of his passes, averaged 7.3 yards per attempt and sports nearly a 2-to-1 touchdown-tointerception ratio — ranks 15th in QBR (71.6) is 14th among all NFL players in rushing yards (437 yards).
Tagovailoa, meanwhile, played with training wheels still attached in his debut.
But with Dolphins having major question marks at running back this week, those wheels should come off.
And the battle for No. 1 should be on.
“A phenomenal leader and winner,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Tagovailoa. “I met him when he was in eighth grade or going to be a freshman. When I was at Texas
[Tech], I flew out to Hawaii to offer him and meet him. I think he was a freshman, maybe.
“And you could tell. He had the charisma, had the charm, had big smile so I followed him since them. He’s just a winner. He’s a great talent and a great person. He has a really bright future ahead of him.”
FOR AS SHORT AS HE IS, HE’S — I MEAN, THIS GUY’S ROCKED UP. Tua Tagovailoa on Kyler Murray