Dolphins Offensive Coaches Talk Tua
In their Zoom media session Monday, Miami Dolphins co-offensive coordinators George Godsey and Eric Studesville discussed what they hope the offense will look like in 2021 in Tua Tagovailoa's second year in the NFL.
Well, sorta.
Godsey and Studesville kind of played it close to the vest, though Godsey did indicate he expects to see improvement from the 2020 first-round pick.
“It’s Tua’s second year in the NFL, so we’re expecting to see a jump just from being able to retain a lot of the information, whether it’s defensive structure, ID’s, front, coverage," Godsey said. "That initially will be a big part of his improvement from Year 1 to Year 2. And then, any time you’re dealing with the passing game, guys that get open are definitely a key for the quarterback. And then guys that have coverage next to them but can adjust to a ball whether it’s high or low and can make those 50/50 balls, it’s on us at the quarterback position to put that ball in that position. That’s really where we are at right now is really identifying defensive information as far as what we can see off the tape, and then trying to apply that to what routes we are putting in.”
There actually was a lot to unpack in that comment because Godsey touched on two issues that were problematic last season.
The first is the "guys that get open are definitely a key for the quarterback." The reality is that Dolphins receivers did not get open particularly regularly last season, as advanced stats showed, and that's where the additions of Will Fuller V via free agency and Jaylen Waddle via the draft should help because their speed should help them create the kind of separation we simply didn't see from guys like DeVante Parker, Preston Williams and others last season.
But then Godsey added that it's "on us at the quarterback position" to make the 50/50 throws, something Tagovailoa simply was too reluctant to do as a rookie.
And before anybody starts calling this a shot at Tua, he himself said he didn't like throwing the ball to covered receivers. It's where Ryan Fitzpatrick had some success last year where Tua didn't because Fitzpatrick most definitely was not afraid to chuck it even if his receiver wasn't totally open.
The hope certainly is that Tua will grow less and less reluctant to throw those kind of passes because winning 50-50 balls is a big part of what makes guys like Parker, Williams and even tight end Mike Gesicki effective receivers.
For his part, Studesville was asked what different things the Dolphins might want to do with Tua in the new offense.
"This may not be the answer you want, but it remains to be seen because we don’t know," Studesville said. "We’re still teaching in the early stages of this. We haven’t put pads on yet. We don’t even know the playbook really well enough to do some of those things yet. We’re just now getting our hands on our players and we’re going to develop that. We can’t paint a picture in the future. What would we like it to look like? I’d love to say we’re going to score 70 points every game, (laughter) but that’s – obviously that would be desirable, but I don’t know that that’s going to happen. So what our goal is, is to get everything taught that we need to get taught – runs, protections, route-wise, the scheme, the mentality of our offense, what we want and then we’ll have to perform at a certain level – high level is going to be our expectations to go forward and win.”
So, yeah, this wasn't exactly revealing.
Godsey and Studesville both were around Tua last season, while new quarterbacks coach Charlie Frye first got to see the quarterback up close when Tagovailoa was a high school senior at the Elite 11 camp.
Frye, who was hired in the offseason, said the qualities he saw in Tua back then still apply.
“I worked at Elite 11 while I was coaching high school and you get to be around a lot of the quarterbacks, especially in that Elite 11 setting, of the premier guys in high school," Frye said. "I thought he had a quick release and he was accurate with the ball. I loved his demeanor. I loved how he interacted with the guys on this team and just how thirsty he was to learn. Then today, I see a lot of the same things — a more mature quarterback that’s been through and had experiences but he still has the same quick release and accuracy and the way he interacts with his teammates. Those things I think all add value to playing this position.”
Frye's experience as a former NFL quarterback, maybe more so than his prior experience with Tua, should be beneficial for Tagovailoa as he looks to take that next step in 2021.
