Dolphins Expecting Massive Growth from Tua Tagovailoa
We’re watching Tua Tagovailoa grow up before our eyes as the Miami Dolphins' quarterback is seemingly coming into his own.
He’s a husband and father now.
His right shoulder is freshly tatted up, paying homage to his Polynesian culture, and the chest and shoulder area he picked for his first tattoo is associated with strength and bravery.
Back in the day those with Polynesian heritage who had a tattoo on their right shoulder were warriors and chiefs. But it’s not just the body art that’s new. The Dolphins quarterback’s whole body has undergone a metamorphosis.
Tagovailoa is thick now.
His calves are thick. His neck is thick. His shoulders are broader, and the weight gain isn’t the emergence of a dad bod.
He’s been intentional about his strength gains, and building a better frame, a stronger neck and core because the goal for 2023 is for this 25-year-old to be large, and in charge, putting him in position to showcase his maturity for an entire season.
“The cool thing about having James in our room, I’m finally not the youngest in our room,” Tagovailoa said, referring to James Blackman, the 24-year-old undrafted rookie from Arkansas who was born eight months after Tagovailoa. “That blows my mind that I’m going into my fourth year and it took me four years to not be the youngest.”
At this point, he is the most seasoned quarterback in the room, and let us not forget, the NFL’s top-rated passer from last season, a player who led the NFL’s sixth-ranked offense last season for the majority of the year.
The hope this season is for Tagovailoa, who owns a 21-13 win-loss record as a starter, to take that next step, showcasing more command of Mike McDaniel’s offense, which will help him enter the stratosphere of NFL elite quarterbacks.
GROWTH IN OFFENSE EXPECTED
McDaniel said everything he’s seen this offseason hints that Tagovailoa is well on his way to achieving that goal.
“It’s been really cool in a year’s time, how he’s not only learned the language [of the offense] but is now fluent in it,” McDaniel said. “That opens quarterbacks up to doing some of the components of the job – it’s really hard to try to be the leader of an offense and motivate guys and encourage guys when you need to or maybe be hard on guys when you need to, when you’re just trying to spit out a play and know your own assignment.”
This offseason Tagovailoa’s practices have been crisper, and he’s committing fewer turnovers during OTA and minicamp sessions.
“For me it’s continuing to work on the little things. One of the things we’ve been working on is operation. When I think about my position it’s what have I done as a leader for the guys up front to have gotten them better?” Tagovailoa said. “We have been doing a great job working operations, doing cadence deals, motions, trying to work on a lot of things to give eye candy for the defense, forcing them to communicate.”
Tagovailoa possesses a quiet confidence that Miami’s coaches and players have steadily invested in, building the former Alabama standout up the point where there isn’t a doubt he’ll have a successful season if he can stay healthy.
DURABILITY REMAINS A CONCERN
Tagovailoa missed five games last season, which included Miami’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round after suffering his second concussion in a December loss to the Green Bay Packers.
This offseason he’s studied jiu-jitsu to learn how to fall better. He’s experimenting with a new helmet, which is supposed to carry the force of blows to the head better, and he’s bulked up to endure more hits.
Tagovailoa’s trainer Nick Hicks recently said the weight gain is mostly muscle, pointing out Tagovailoa is at 10 percent body fat.
“As much as I’m trying to work on throwing the ball and getting the ball to the guys, pushing the ball a lot more downfield, and getting in the playbook, I’m doing the same with my body," Tagovailoa said.
When hired by the Dolphins, McDaniel admits that he heard some criticisms about Tagovailoa, which likely centered around his work ethic, toughness, commitment to the game, willingness to be coached hard, arm strength, etc.,, but claims the quarterback has silenced all those concerns.
“This dude is everything you’d look for in a starting quarterback in terms of professionalism, how he attends to his job, how seriously he takes it,” McDaniel said. “He takes pride in making sure he does his job, but more importantly, how he makes others better at their job.”
