Some More Interesting — And Differing

Because of all the top college football prospects who opted out in 2020, a lot of scouts have gone back to game tape from 2019 to make their evaluations.

That's what NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has done, and that's what brought him to get reacquainted with Tua Tagovailoa as an NFL prospect.

And Jeremiah came away impressed once again with what he saw from the Miami Dolphins quarterback.

"I’m sitting there going, like, Tua is pretty good," Jeremiah said. "Like, I don’t know (why) we've all just decided that Tua Tagovailoa can’t play. This kid is talented and so let’s give him a chance."

Jeremiah is among the network draft analysts who have worked for NFL organizations, so he obviously knows what he's talking about.

While he gave Tua his stamp of approval, he didn't completely eliminate the possibility of the Dolphins taking a quarterback with the third overall selection because, as he correctly pointed out, it's a team that's difficult to predict.

That was a sentiment shared by the analysts of Good Morning Football — Kyle Brandt, Peter Schrager and former Lions and Vikings wide receiver Nate Burleson.

But they didn't seem as sold on Tagovailoa as Jeremiah.

One of their topics of the day was a debate on whether the Dolphins are all in on Tagovailoa.

"My shock level if they do something at quarterback over the next few weeks, is gonna be very, very low." 👀

Do you believe the Dolphins are all-in on Tua? pic.twitter.com/R3ulUCzcTe
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) March 9, 2021

"Look, (last year) you're in a playoff hunt you're going to shock the world and bring the Miami Dolphins to the playoffs and you're sitting down your rookie it because you didn't like the way he played and you're going with the old guy," Brandt said. "How could you possibly sit here and be like, 'Oh no, they love him. I don't know if they do love him.' Maybe they loved him when they drafted him. I can't say all in; they want him to succeed. They want him to be great. But again, my shock level if they do something at quarterback over the next few weeks, it's going to be very very low."

The analysts referenced the Dolphins' Week 16 victory at Las Vegas when Fitzpatrick came off the bench to lead an improbable 26-25 comeback victory.

"The epic job that Ryan Fitzpatrick did in this game, it makes me wonder how you could say they're all in on Tua," Schrager said. "He just wasn’t getting it done, but Fitzpatrick was unbelievable. And the fact that Flores even went to him tells me everything. I don’t say they’re all in. I think they’re in. I don’t they're trading knee jerk. It’s not Josh Rosen just yet. But they’re not all in. I mean, they certainly haven't come out and Brian Flores hasn’t said Tua is our quarterback, stop, we’re not answering the phones. The Texans came out and they're like, we're not answering the phones. The Dolphins haven’t said that.”

Burleson took a different approach, suggested that the Dolphins indeed are all in on Tagovailoa but maybe they shouldn't be.

“I think it's the Miami Dolphins letting Fitzpatrick move on (as a free agent)," Burleson said. "That right there is a sign that they're fine with Tua. And I disagree ... I feel like Miami should bring back Fitzpatrick. Listen, if you can’t undeniably beat Ryan Fitzpatrick, then you’re not the face of the franchise.”

The reality of the situation when it comes to Tua is that it's difficult to really know where the Dolphins stand on him because there have been no public comments on the quarterback situation since early January when GM Chris Grier said, "Tua is our starter."

But that statement wasn't nearly definitive enough or recent enough in an offseason where big-name quarterbacks have been discussed as potentially being available to remove any doubt.

Then again, it's really not the Dolphins' M.O. these days to share their vision with the media, so it's entirely possible they're completely behind Tagovailoa but just haven't said so.

It's also possible the Dolphins will evaluate every situation that could present itself, up to and including trading for Deshaun Watson or even taking a quarterback with the third overall pick.

That's simply an organization doing its due diligence.

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Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 as an editor for Dolphin Digest, write for miamidolphins.com and now publisher of SI All Dolphins. You can follow him on Twitter at @apoupartFins.

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