Miami at Arizona: Tua Tagovailoa Dazzles in 2nd Start

In just his second start, Tua Tagovailoa gets the win; dazzled and showed moments of what we had seen at Alabama that made him a top draft pick—being an underdog again but this time on the road against a tough Arizona team. The defense had moments but didn’t steal the show this time around.

[Read also: Tua’s first start.]

Arm Talent

From the first snap, Tua looked comfortable and poised to lead his team. He didn’t hesitate to test the corners of Arizona, throwing the deep ball early and often. Being able to hit the target on the tougher throws was exactly what we want to see. He took advantage of what the defense was giving up. One thing that stood out to me was his ability to throw his receivers open at times.

Mobility

Most Dolphin fans don’t want to read a headline involving Tua and mobility, for fear of injury; but we saw his ability to beat you with his feet on Sunday. While most fans gasp at the thought of this, it made sense. He did this when the play broke down and the defense was closing in. What impressed me the most when running; he always kept his eyes downfield, searching for the open target. One to critical drives, he made runs of 6 and 17 yards to keep the drive alive and ultimately score a TD on both drives.

Football IQ

The best part of watching this Arizona game wasn’t just the shootout. Tua showed how good he could be with time. I often saw him manipulate the defense with his eyes and then make the throw to the open receiver. Sometimes that would be by play design, such as a critical throw early in the game where Tau would fake the bubble screen to his left, right, and then make an accurate strike to Mike Gesicki for a 15 yard gain. He would often look off the safety before throwing the deep ball unless presnap he saw it was just a 1on1 matchup.

Read also:(Dolphins vs. Cardinals recap)

Is Tua the real deal?

Again, this is only his 2nd career start, but Tua is on track with similar stats compared to the beloved Patrick Mahomes. So the kid has something going for him. Early it has appeared that Miami made the right move by drafting and giving him the ropes this early in the season. Look for Tua to keep up this run and show why he and Miami are on the rise!