Some Language Arts teacher needs to sit the Miami Dolphins coaches, executives and players down for a grammar lecture discouraging the use of double negatives.
First it was Tua Tagovailoa saying “I don’t not feel wanted,” when addressing Miami’s months-long pursuit of a trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, which concealed layers of tension and resentment that allegedly was brewing between the Tagovailoa, the Dolphins’ 2020 first-round pick, and Brian Flores, the head coach the team fired at the end of the season.
Even though general manager Chris Grier said “the door is shut” on Miami’s pursuit of Watson on Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine, when Grier was asked if Tagovailoa can be an elite NFL quarterback, the Dolphins’ top football executive hit the South Florida media with his own double negative, which may have provided a few hints on the state of the team’s quarterback position.
“I can’t say he can’t be,” Grier said about Tagovailoa, whose 90.1 passer rating ranked him as the NFL’s 19th best quarterback, positioning him right between Atlanta’s Matt Ryan (90.4) and Houston’s rookie Davis Mills (88.8)
Not exactly a rousing endorsement for a player taken fifth overall in the 2020 NFL draft, the quarterback Miami hoped to land when Grier and Flores stripped the team down to its framework and rebuilt — or tanked, you pick how you’d like to view the 2019 season — the roster.
“It’s too early,” Grier added.
In fairness to Tagovailoa, “elite” is a high standard for a quarterback who has only played two seasons, and missed a handful of games due to injury.
Not even Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, whom Tagovailoa is often compared to because Herbert was picked one spot behind Tagovailoa in the 2020 draft, is worthy of an “elite” designation to some.
And the same can be said about Joe Burrow, who produced 105.9 passer rating (second best in the NFL) and led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl this year.
A healthy debate can be had, but its too early to crown these youngsters and put them in the same class of quarterbacks as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson, who are arguably the NFL’s true elites.
But young players like Burrow, Herbert, Watson, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have already proven they are coming hard and fast as NFL superstars, elevating the talent level of teams they are under center for.
Miami needs to discover if Tagovailoa can do the same. And if not, what then?
“He won games,” Grier continued, referring to Tagovailoa’s 13-8 record as an NFL starter the past two seasons. “It’s hard to win games in this league. People want to say he can’t throw the ball downfield. But he’s incredibly accurate.”
Problem is, accuracy only takes a team so far.
According to Grier, new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and his staff studied every second of Tagovailoa’s game tape from the past two seasons, and have a good sense of his strengths and weaknesses. They intend to build Miami an offense that will be balanced, alleviating some of the pressure on the passing game, and the defense.
The hope is that McDaniel and his staff can create offense that highlights Tagovailoa’s strengths and mask his weaknesses.
“That’s what good coaches do,” McDaniel said in an earlier conversation. “You can’t just say ‘you’re not this.’ If I’m a really good coach, I maximize what we got. I don’t care what we can’t do.”
But McDaniel should care about what the quarterback can become because it likely creates a ceiling for his team.
For now, this is Tagovailoa’s team, and Miami will put him in this run-centric, West Coast style offense and see how he performs when the offensive line is improved (either through coaching or talent upgrades), the run game becomes more consistent, and there’s more reliable playmakers around him.
It’s unlikely that Tagovailoa will thrive in his first year in Miami’s new offense, especially considering there are usually growing pains that require an adjustment period.
But don’t be surprised if what happens in 2022 provides clues about his potential upside and determines if Tagovailoa’s merely a placeholder, or the quarterback Miami should continue to build around.
