Put your opinions and obsessions about the quarterback to the side for one moment.
For one spring, let’s not overanalyze everything new coach Mike McDaniel said, or didn’t say about Tua Tagovailoa, dissecting the young quarterback’s potential and his future.
McDaniel hasn’t seen Tagovailoa throw one pass in person yet.
Let’s also refrain from stressing about veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who was signed to be the backup, but refuses to view himself as the backup.
Jacoby Brissett refused to call himself a backup last year and it didn’t bother a soul. So why let Bridgewater’s inflated opinion of himself bother you now?
We’ll soon figure out who Tagovailoa is, and what he can become because for once in his young career he should have a decent supporting cast around him.
The Dolphins have given themselves a chance to have a respectable offensive line courtesy of the free-agent addition of Terron Armstead, a Pro Bowl left tackle, and Connor Williams, an established veteran guard.
Tagovailoa should have a decent running game after Miami made it a priority, adding veteran tailbacks Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds and fullback Alec Ingold.
And Miami upgraded his playmakers, on paper at least, including the addition of one of the NFL’s top players in superstar Tyreek Hill, whom the Dolphins traded for last week.
In one offseason, the Dolphins improved the talent base in every phase of that side of the ball with the hopes it will help McDaniel lay a solid foundation.
They did what all organizations must do before they can come to any hard and firm conclusions on its young quarterback. They provided him with support.
“We added people that we are very proud of in terms of the human beings and what we’re about,” McDaniel said at the league meetings on Monday. “The players you add in free agency tell the team a lot of what you’re expecting from them, and what you’re investing in.”
Miami paid handsomely for Hill with the hopes that he and his 11 touchdowns a season can open things up for everyone on the field.
They also signed an injured, but talented running back in Mostert, who has been a solid contributor to one of the NFL’s most potent rushing attacks. But he has never been the lead back.
Neither has Edmonds, a multifaceted tailback who has handled more than 500 offensive snaps only once in his four-year career with the Arizona Cardinals.
And the Dolphins added the fourth receiver in the Dallas Cowboys’ offense, signing Cedrick Wilson with the intent of having him develop into Miami’s slot receiver.
Of the newcomers, only Hill’s a proven commodity, an established NFL star. But surround them with Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe, Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker, and the newcomers should collectively provide an upgrade over what Tagovailoa was working with his previous two seasons.
“[Both] players happen to be pretty good with the ball in their hands,” McDaniel said of Edmonds and Wilson. “Both players are in their own right self-made. They had to compete for opportunities in their given organizations and that made them stronger. It didn’t kill them.”
Imagine that, an organization that doesn’t believe in gifting players starting spots and status.
One that values players keeping what they’ve earned.
“You try to empower players by having good teammates,” McDaniel said when asked about bringing out the greatness of Tagovailoa, who owns a 13-8 record as a starter the past two years. “And as boring as it is, you have to deliberately engage day in and day out to really get the end result that everybody wants. So have we done enough? Well, we’ve barely even scratched the surface.”
It’s just the start. A proper one, finally.
