Miami Dolphins: 3 Areas Tua Needs To Improve With His New Weapons

The Miami Dolphins need Tua Tagovailoa to be their franchise quarterback. The team has invested a lot of resources into the former Alabama QB and despite fans being split, he’s the best shot they have. They’ll have two first-round picks next year if he can’t be the guy so if he wants to be in a Dolphins uniform next season, he needs to work on some things:

Game Speed/Decision Making

Tua Tagovailoa can make all the big throws with a clean pocket. When he doesn’t have defenders in his face, he can consistently put the ball where only his guys can get it. But this is the NFL and the pocket isn’t always clean. He’s got guys with speed now, meaning they’ll get off the line of scrimmage quicker and make their breaks quicker. Tua needs to recognize where the windows are and when they’re closing without getting sloppy with the football. Go back to his rookie season, in his final game against the Buffalo Bills he forced a lot of throws downfield.

Buffalo was the superior team when it came to scoring and in order to keep up with those types of opponents, he’ll need to make those quick throws with defenders hawking him down.

Deep Balls

One of the criticisms of Tua is his ability to stretch the field. He can make the big throws but often times the receivers have to slow up until the ball gets there. If he can make those throws, he’s got to find a way to let it fly sooner. Ideally, with speedy receivers, you gotta know they’re going to run under the football. Go back to the days of Randy Moss, one of the best deep ball WRs in NFL history. QBs had trust that he was going to get there and let it fly earlier. Those passes are fine but you want the receiver hit in stride and catch up to the football, not the other way around. It’s another timing issue and now that Tua has faster receivers he needs to get the ball out sooner.

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Broken plays

The Miami Dolphins haven’t had the best line over the past few seasons and it forces better decision-making out of the quarterback. Tua needs to pick up defenses sooner. If plays break down, he’s got to be able to decide, take the sack, throw it away, or scramble and turn a positive gain. Today’s NFL isn’t very forgiving when it comes to making something out of nothing. More often than not it leads to disaster. Learn to play another down. If the play isn’t there, tucking and getting 2 yards is better than a sack. He needs to learn to throw it away on second down and trust your guys on third down. Tua does a great job of being smart and making heads-up plays, but again it’s not always going to be a no-brainer. More windows open when you can make those decisions before it’s too late.

The biggest concern with Tua Tagovailoa for the Miami Dolphins is timing. The majority of his struggles come from a slight delay. Make a decision and stick to your guns. Tua Tagovailoa is great at taking care of the football, but in order to do so, he’s sacrificing the speed of his decision-making. Find a way to get the ball out sooner, whether it’s for a 3-yard gain or a 50-yarder, you want the ball to your playmakers as quick as possible