These 3 plays changed my perception of Tua Tagovailoa's potential
Tua Tagovailoa's stat line in the Dolphins' win over the Cardinals was impressive, but not nearly impressive as the tape.
After a rough first start for the Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa put the NFL on notice with a masterful performance in an exhilarating 34-31 road win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The numbers were impressive — he added 16.5 expected points on 37 passing plays and finished with a QBR of 87.8 (out of 100) — but it’s how he compiled those numbers that made me re-assess my pre-draft evaluation of him.
We tend to overreact to individual stat lines for young quarterbacks and hold up every performance as a referendum on who they are. For instance, if Baker Mayfield throws for 300 yards and a couple of touchdowns, the narrative changes for a week.
Baker has figured things out! It’s 2018 all over again!
Does it matter that he put up those numbers doing things we already knew he was capable of doing? Does it matter if he showed any real evolution as a quarterback? Of course not! The results are all that matters.
But Tua’s Week 9 performance was different. He put up those numbers while doing things I didn’t know he could do — or wondered if he could do at the NFL level.
I picked out three plays that answered all of the questions I had about him entering the draft and broke them down. Turn your sound up!