Fins’ Tagovailoa keeps being slighted on social media
Perhaps it’s the injuries. Perhaps it’s the poor performances in nationally televised games against the Chargers and Packers last December. Perhaps it’s a case of pundits needing to see Tua Tagovailoa repeat his fabulous start to last season.
Whatever the reason, the Dolphins quarterback continues to be disrespected on social media, even by some of his biggest advocates.
The biggest slight came courtesy of the NFL’s official Twitter account, which last month tweeted this: “The AFC is loaded at QB:
Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence.”
Tagovailoa isn’t as accomplished as most of those players, excluding Lawrence and arguably Herbert. But at the very least, he should be on that list after leading the league in passer rating.
SI.com’s Albert Breer last month tweeted: “Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers,
Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson ... If Lamar stays in Baltimore, at least two of those quarterbacks will miss the playoffs in ’23.”
Once again, no mention of Tagovailoa, as if last season didn’t happen.
Even ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, perhaps Tagovailoa’s biggest advocate on national television, excluded Tagovailoa from his list of “quarterbacks you win because of” in 2023.
Orlovsky put Allen, Rodgers, Burrow, Jackson, Lawrence, Herbert, Mahomes and Jalen Hurts in that category.
He listed Tagovailoa in a second-tier category of “QBs you’ll win a lot with [in 2023],” a group also including Mac Jones, Jimmy Garoppolo, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins and Geno Smith.
And then there was the ultimate slight: NBC’s Chris Simms excluding Tagovailoa from the list of the top-20 quarterbacks in football. Simms rated him 21st, behind New England’s Jones, Ryan Tannehill and 18 others, and explained it this way:
“His arm is below-average for an NFL starter. It doesn’t create much on its own. Nobody would watch Tua film and go, ‘It’s lasers.’ When you break it down, there are so many yards and plays left on the field …
“He’s not durable. It’s been an issue his whole career. He plays small in the pocket, he loses control of power throws down the field, and when teams took away some of those trick plays, he couldn’t deliver.”
So what’s going on here? Is this any way to treat the 2022 NFL leader in passer rating?
It’s clear that Tagovailoa didn’t do enough to convince national pundits that he’s a franchise quarterback.
Is that fair or reasonable?
It doesn’t particularly matter, because he will have another opportunity to prove, once and for all, in 2023 that he can: 1) stay healthy for most or all of a season. 2) avoid the poor performances that marred two of his only three games that were televised to a national non-cable audience (against the Chargers and Packers).
If he achieve that — and reproduce the type of performances we saw against Detroit, Chicago and Baltimore in at least a handful of games — then excluding him from any list of toptier AFC quarterbacks would be far more egregious.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, asked on “Pardon My Take” to explain why Tagovailoa is criticized more than the average quarterback, offered three theories:
“There are a couple things going on. I’ve wondered the same thing, in terms of the polarization. A lot of people have strong opinions either way. The starting point is he is different. Different makes people uncomfortable. If you haven’t noticed, he throws with his left hand, not right, which is crazy because he’s right-handed. He learned how to throw left on instruction from his father.”
McDaniel’s second theory for the criticism of Tagovailoa: “Throughout the history of time, people have shunned others when they can’t pronounce their last name, which it has a lot of vowels.
“Also, there is also a lot of conviction. When there is a lot of conviction with people and they’re over the top about it, people tend to speak up on the negative. And once you dig your heels in, three years down the road, you have voodoo dolls of Tua because he’s the bane of your existence because you said you didn’t like him one time and you’re tripling down. I feel great about the guy.”
CHATTER
Appearing on Sirus XM NFL Radio, free agent running back Dalvin Cook indicated he has spoken to the Dolphins and said Miami would be a “perfect fit.”
He said the Dolphins would be “an exciting situation to go into when you got guys that can stretch the field on the outside. I think that defense is pretty solid to me. Tua, when he’s out on the field, they got a winning a record. “... As a running back you look for a certain scheme and I know the scheme that I’m good in, and that’s outside zone, and that’s what the Miami Dolphins run. So it’s like, you know, it’d be a perfect fit. And the roster, like you said, speaks for itself.”
The Dolphins have shown interest in Cook, but apparently not at his preferred price point — which isn’t dramatically reduced from the $10.4 million he was due to make with Minnesota.
The Vikings must still pay him $2 million after releasing him. Cook, 27, has topped 1000 yards rushing in four consecutive seasons and was invited to the Pro Bowl each of those seasons.
Feedback of Heat first round pick, UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.: ESPN’s Jay Bilas: “He was the one guy who stood out who played the hardest. Fundamentally sound. Really good isolation forward. Like Jalen Brunson, the way he can back you down and pivot around you” stands out . ...
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo said Jaquez “has helped himself in the predraft process, showing teams he’s ready to contribute sooner rather than later thanks to his experience, physicality and feel for the game, allowing him to play a variety of positions and roles for the team that picks him.” The Heat says at 6-6, he can play either forward spot.
Among those who have reportedly drawn UM’s interest in the Canes’ search for a new baseball coach: ex-MLB shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, a Texas assistant the past three seasons, who was spotted on UM’s campus last week; Wake Forest’s Tom Walter, South Carolina’s Mark Kingston, Marlins assistant coach (and former UM player) Jon Jay, Duke’s Chris Pollard, former LSU coach Paul Mainieri (who won the national title in 2009) and UM pitching coach J.D. Arteaga.
Marlins catcher Jacob Stallings said several hitters, while standing in the batter’s box facing ace rookie pitcher Eury Perez, have marveled about “how polished and poised he is.” Batters are hitting .182 against him overall and a combined .114 (9 for 79, 36 strikeouts) against his his non-fastball pitches
The Panthers say they are near a deal to sell naming rights to FLA Live Arena.