Imagine for a moment that you’re Tua Tagovailoa. After a collegiate career at Alabama that included a walk-off touchdown pass in the National Championship Game, you’re selected 5th overall in the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. Over the first five years of your NFL career, you throw for over 15,000 yards and 100 touchdowns. You lead the league in passer rating during your third season, passing yards in your fourth season, and completion percentage in your fifth season. You accumulate a 38-24 record as a starter and are largely responsible for leading the Dolphins to a winning record in five consecutive seasons.
And yet as you enter your sixth NFL season, there are lingering doubts as to whether you’re the guy. Now sure, there are legitimate concerns regarding Tagovailoa’s durability and his ability to win in cold weather during the postseason. These aren’t necessarily minor issues that you can easily overlook. But even still, given the expectations he faces and the noise coming from most analysts who believe this is a make-or-break year for Tagovailoa and the Dolphins, it would be understandable if Tagovailoa were carrying himself as if he were a marked man.
Fortunately for Dolphins fans, this isn’t the case.
Early returns from Miami indicate that Tagovailoa is locked in like never before, taking full command of head coach Mike McDaniel’s offense, exhibiting a swagger that should alarm the rest of the NFL.
“He’s just excited to play, man,” Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle shared during a midweek press conference. “He looks confident, coming out with a different swag. He’s got dye in his hair and some other stuff. He looks like he’s just eager to play, man.”
Jaylen Waddle has been a teammate of Tua Tagovailoa’s dating back to their time in Tuscaloosa, so it’s understandable why he’d be so eager to sing the praises of his quarterback. But he’s not the only one in the building who has seen a different version of Tagovailoa this spring.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
“He’s definitely a lot more confident and decisive on and off the field,” says Dolphins lineman Austin Jackson. “He knows what people are supposed to be doing in terms of training. He knows what we’re doing on the field. He knows how to take care of his body. He knows how to unite guys, bring us together for team camaraderie and stuff, just to get together. He’s a full-blown leader.”
Tagovailoa’s ability to not only stay on the field, but also to unite the team could be what either keeps the Dolphins from reaching their full potential, or propels them back into the postseason. In addition to Waddle, the Dolphins have surrounded Tua with plenty of high-octane talent, though both Tyreek Hill and Jonnu Smith remain trade candidates. But a hot month of September could be all it takes to keep the band together in order to see if a different fate awaits in the Playoffs.