Many have questioned whether or not Tua Tagovailoa is the right quarterback to lead the Miami Dolphins moving forward, but a Dolphins legend thinks Tagovailoa has what it takes.
During an appearance on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio on Wednesday, legendary Miami signal-caller Dan Marino was asked if he thought the Dolphins could win a Super Bowl with Tagovailoa.
“Yes, I believe so. Yes,” Marino said. “[Tagovailoa] just needs to continue to grow, and I think he’s done that. He had the best statistical year of his career and the best in the league, I think. You just got to build on that.”
Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards this season. He also totaled 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while completing 69.3 percent of his throws while posting a passer rating of 101.1 en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance.
While the numbers certainly look good, many have stated that Tagovailoa is merely a product of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and isn’t actually a top-flight quarterback.
The 25-year-old does not have elite arm strength, nor does he possess high-level athleticism. Those deficiencies have led a lot of people to say that Tagovailoa is not a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback. The fact that Tagovailoa has not looked great when one of Hill or Waddle are not on the field has not helped his case, either.
That being said, it is still very early in Tagovailoa’s career. He just completed his fourth season, and he has already led the Dolphins to back-to-back playoff appearances after the franchise had made just two trips to the postseason since 2002. That has to count for something.
Plus, the University of Alabama product is a very accurate passer, so even if he does not throw the deep ball particularly well, he can effectively hit his receivers on short and intermediate routes. Then, speedsters like Hill and Waddle can take care of the rest.
Miami went 11-6 this season and fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
We’ll see if Tua Tagovailoa can silence his critics in 2024. He certainly seems to have Marino in his corner.
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