The neverending Tua takes this week including comments that stood out from both former Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, and they’re worth discussing.
We’ll start with Payton saying, actually predicting, that Teddy Bridgewater eventually will replace Tagovailoa in the lineup for reasons other than injury.
Let’s start with saying that the odds of that certainly would appear astronomical because the Dolphins spent the entire offseason telling anyone and everyone they were all in on Tua, they made moves all year to try to help him succeed, and most importantly because they face an important decision next offseason as to what to do with Tua when he becomes eligible for a contract extension and a decision also will have to be made about a fifth-year extension.
Also remember that Payton coached Bridgewater in New Orleans, so he’s always got a soft spot for him.
As for Fitzpatrick, he offered on the “Pardon My Take” podcast this assessment of Tua, with whom he played during the 2020 season: “If you’re a top-10 quarterback, you have to have at least one trait that’s absolutely special, something you can do that no one else can do. Josh Allen, I think, we see the arm talent. We see the way he can scramble and run, the hits he can take, the hits he can deliver. (Justin) Herbert, physically, the same thing.
“With Tua, it’s not the the arm strength, it’s not the ability to run or scramble or get out of trouble. What is it? People say, ‘Well, he’s a winner.’ Tyreek [Hill] says, ‘He’s the most accurate I’ve ever seen.’ When I first saw Tua, what pops out for me, because it’s hard for a young quarterback to come in and do this: anticipation and accuracy.
“Those are the things he has to be elite at. I think he’s very, very good at — very accurate and can anticipate. The problem is you sometimes have to create. He’s not going to be able to scramble – he’ll be able to scramble and get out of trouble and get you 5 yards. But he’s not going to be able to scramble around, escape the pocket and make the big plays down the field. So he has to take what he has that (can become) elite. That’s accuracy and, as he gets older, that’s decision-making.
“He has to be the best in the NFL at it, because he’s limited in some of those other ways.”
And to that, all we’d say, is there one word in Fitzpatrick’s comments that is not accurate?
This also should not have been seen as a shot at Tagovailoa, particularly since he didn’t dismiss the idea of Tagovailoa becoming elite, but rather as an honest assessment from somebody who has played the position.
