Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A bad day, an ugly finish
And now an offseason riddle about Tua’s future at QB
If I’m Miami Dolphins owner, Steve Ross, I give general manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores a few days to decompress before sitting them in a room and asking: Do they still trust their careers with Tua Tagovailoa’s future?
Yes or no. In or out. No hemming, hawing, talking of dropped passes or assertions about needing better players around him.
Is Tua still The Guy or not? And, beyond that, after Tua’s unimpressive rookie year, Ross should ask why the Dolphins (10-6) wouldn’t be in the market for another top quarterback with their third-overall 2021 NFL draft pick.
The fact last January’s question remains this January’s question says the Dolphins drafted the wrong quarterback last spring. If there was a re-draft today, the quarterback the Dolphins passed on, Justin Herbert, would be taken over Tua. It’d be a slamdunk, too.
For that matter, if we’re doing hypothetical replays, the quarterback the Dolphins passed on a few years back, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, would be drafted before anyone except Patrick Mahomes. Allen, a certified star, played just a half as Buffalo warmed up for the playoffs Sunday by smacking Miami out of the playoffs, 56-26.
Do you see a pattern with quarterbacks here?
Haven’t you seen it for 20 years?
It’s why for this latest rebuild to be a success, the quarterback has to be a success. Until then, all conclusions are on hold. The main issue of this franchise remains the main question into yet another offseason.
That’s not to dismiss the strides taken with too long of a whiff of
Sunday’s stench. The main success was the defense. The fact big money and high draft picks were invested and the defense entered Sunday as the league’s best says Flores accomplished what predecessors couldn’t.
He fixed his area of expertise. Adam Gase, Joe Philbin or Tony Sparano didn’t fix their background area — the offense. But Flores and Grier got the right players for this defense until Sunday went everything went splat.
Give Sunday’s defense this much: It started right. Byron Jones’s interception of Allen on the game’s first series put Tua’s offense in a position to stake out the game early. This was the latest chance for Tua to show he’s made some rookie steps.
Starting at the Bills’ 42, Tua didn’t move the offense beyond a field goal. Or the offense didn’t move itself. Or, well, blame the play-calling if that makes you feel better.
Here’s all you know from this season: When journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ran the offense, it ran well enough. When Tua ran the offense, it clunked and clanked and looked like it belonged under Friday night lights.
That was acceptable in October when Tua took over for Fitzpatrick. By January, when this franchise invested 9 starts in him, it raised questions about where it’s all going.
The line of former NFL types doubting Tagovailoa’s talent is snaking out the door now, too. Former general manager Mike Lombardi doesn’t see an “elite trait” in Tua. Former quarterbacks Phil Simms, who didn’t like him pre-draft, and ESPN’s Matt Hasselbeck say he can’t see the whole field. Former coach Rex Ryan added a reason for visual problems on ESPN on Sunday: He’s too small to see his receivers.
“I think this is a big game for Tua Tagovailoa to show, ‘I can win a game without my binkie,’ former Patriots linebacker and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi said Sunday, citing the absence of Fitzpatrick.
Are they all right?
That’s the question of the offseason, because one thing went right Sunday. Tennessee beat Houston. That means the Dolphins have Houston’s No. 3 draft pick thanks to Grier’s smart trade of Laremy Tunsil.
This looks to be a quarterback-rich draft again. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence is the seeming sure thing at No. 1. Brigham Young’s Zach Wilson is the rising commodity, and Ohio State’s Justin Fields just dissected Clemson in the college playoffs.
It wouldn’t look good to take Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick one year and his potential successor with the No. 3 pick the next draft.
Perhaps the only one to do it was former Dolphins general manager Joe Thomas. He took Rick Norton with the top pick in 1966. When that didn’t work out, he took Bob Griese with the fourth pick in 1967.
The moral: Keep drafting a quarterback until you have one.
Do the Dolphins have one now? That’s the question of the offseason.
“Look, we didn’t play well as a team,” Flores said when asked about Tua’s play on Sunday. “We didn’t coach it well. We didn’t play it well. I’m not going to sit here and blame it on one player. It’s a team effort.”
That’s how to talk after a game. But what this franchise does this offseason is how it really feels. Do they still trust in Tua? If it’s an uncertain, they better go get another quarterback to double down on the future.