Tua Takes: 'Contender' Comments, 2023 Over/Unders

Tua Tagovailoa did a series of interviews with South Florida reporters after a community event at a Miami high school Tuesday, and his comments as usual were dissected by the national media.

The one comment that produced headlines was the one where he called the Dolphins "definitely legit contenders" in 2023.

Tagovailoa made the comment to Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post after being asked how legit the Dolphins were as AFC contenders.

While the question certainly was valid, the comment had to be expected because it wasn't like Tua was going to say no, though he could have taken the "we'll just have to see approach."

But in reality, saying anything short of what Tua did say would have been dissected as a lack of confidence because the Dolphins, by any measure, absolutely should be seen as contenders considering they made the playoffs last season, did so despite their starting quarterback missing four starts, and made some key additions on defense, starting with one of the most respected defensive coaches in recent memory, Vic Fangio.

The only problem for the Dolphins is that the AFC is loaded with contenders and arguably includes all of the best quarterbacks in the league with the exception of Jalen Hurts.

Any ranking of top 10 QBs in the league has to include Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence and Lamar Jackson, and Deshaun Watson will be in that group as well if he recaptures his Houston form in his first full season with Cleveland.

Beyond that, Pittsburgh never has had a losing record since Mike Tomlin took over as head coach in 2007 and the Tennessee Titans always fielded a competitive team with Mike Vrabel as head coach until injuries ravaged their 2022 season.

So, no, making the playoffs won't be easy for the Dolphins because there will be some teams left out of the AFC playoff field that will be clearly better than NFC postseason participants. But the Dolphins most definitely are legit contenders.

TUA'S OPTIMISM FOR THE OFFENSE

Of all the Tua comments we saw, the one that stood out from this vantage point was what he told Schad about the Dolphins offense.

"I think it can get very, very scary, pretty dangerous," is how Tua phrased out.

Tua isn't necessarily known for bold comments, so this one stood out because of the two "verys."

But, yes, given that the already-fast Dolphins added even more speed in the offseason with De'Von Achane and Robbie Chosen, the potential for the offense really is intriguing if Mike McDaniel again can work his magic and the main players, including Tua, stay healthy.

TUA OVER/UNDERS

Ahead of the start of training camp, BetOnline has released over/under totals for starting quarterbacks around the NFL, and those can serve as a sort of projection on 2023 stats.

For Tagovailoa, his over/unders include 3,900 1/2 passing yards; 25 1/2 touchdowns; and 11 1/2 interceptions.

As with everything else regarding Tua, whether he winds up going over or under the totals should be dependent on the number of games he plays.

As a point of reference, he played 13 games in 2022 and finished with 3,548 yards with 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

Projected over 17 games, those totals would have been 4,639 yards with 32 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Given his injury history, one would assume bettors would be nervous to take the over totals, but if Tua can top the ones for yards and touchdowns, it obviously would bode well for the Dolphins' playoff chances.