Dolphins player under most pressure in 2024 NFL season
In 2024, the Miami Dolphins were one of the most perplexing teams in the NFL.
Some weeks, they looked unstoppable, dropping 70 on teams like the Denver Broncos while making Sean Payton’s players question their very will to play. And then other weeks, like during the playoffs, they looked more or less lost, scoring just seven points against the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in an ugly outing fans would sooner rather forget.
And who, for better or worse, has the most pressure on their shoulders to make sure the former happens far more often than the latter? That would be the face of the franchise, Tua Tagovailoa.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, Tagovailoa has become one of the most polarizing players in the entire league, with some fans celebrating his impressive stat line and big-play abilities while others point out that Mike McDaniel is one of the true geniuses on the offensive side of the ball, with an ability to craft offensive plays that keep opposing coaches guessing and defensive players consistently out of position.
Factor in the fastest collection of offensive weapons in the league, with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle absolute burners on the outside and RBs like De’Von Achane and rookie Jaylen Wright providing speed coming out of the backfield and talent evaluators have openly questioned how much better – or worse – the Dolphins offense would be if Tagovailoa was swapped out for any other above average quarterback like Kirk Cousins, let alone a genuinely elite performer like Justin Herbert.
Fortunately, with plenty of continuity coming back and another year to adjust to McDaniel’s every-evolving offensive system, Tagovailoa has a chance to put up or shut up when it matters most, securing the Dolphins their first deep playoff berth in, oh, 30 years or go down swinging in what might just be the most interesting contract years in recent NFL memory.
Can Tagovailoa put it all together, win the AFC East, throw for 4,600 yards, and sign a contract in line with other top quarterbacks across the NFL like Joe Burrows? Only time will tell, but considering the infrastructure around him, the coaches guiding him, and the potential financial rewards of a huge year, it’s safe to say Dolphins fans will be treated to a driven 26-year-old under center who wants nothing more than to prove he’s “the guy” for a team who has been looking for that guy since a certain University of Pitt product hung up his cleats 25 years ago.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
RGIII believes the Dolphins QB deserves more respect
While the pressure is on for Tagovailoa to either become an unquestioned top-15 quarterback or play middlingly enough to justify a trade elsewhere, one person who is firmly in the pro-Tua Time camp is Robert Griffin III, the former Washington quarterback who now works for ESPN as an NFL analyst.
Discussing Tagovailoa’s honorable mention status on ESPN Senior NFL National reporter Jeremy Fowler’s recent “Execs, coaches, scouts rank NFL’s top 10 QBs for 2024” list, with an anonymous veteran NFL personnel evaluator calling the Miami quarterback “A good player with some limitations,” RGIII questioned the evaluation process is the most scrupulous light, letting fans know that the disrespect needs to end.
“Tua, to not have him on this list is not only disingenuous, but it’s disrespectful. It’s a spit in the face. He’s been a top-five quarterback the past two years. [This poll seems] truly based on what you think a quarterback can do, not based on what these two men have put on the field,” Robert Griffin III explained via the Miami Herald.
Ever since McDaniel left the sunny safety of San Francisco for the even sunnier settlement of South Beach, Tagovailoa’s career achievements have been marked with an asterisk, with talent evaluators wondering who truly is responsible for the Dolphins’ offensive success, the man who designed a movement-heavy offense that has taken the world by storm or the quarterback in the gun responsible for getting the ball where it needs to go.
Ultimately, for fans to truly know how good Tagovailoa is as a stand-alone quarterback, he would have to leave the McDaniel system and go it on his own in another offense, be that with a team like the Tenessee Titans or the Las Vegas Raiders, who have a clear need under center. Then again, considering how well the marriage between QB and head coach has been thus far through their shared tenure in Miami, it’s hard to see a world where the Dolphins let that happen, as when you already have something very good, chasing “elite” play may backfire spectacularly.
Tua highlight reel, PAY THE MAN pic.twitter.com/H49ZcvuRWe
— Connor (@TheDolphinsDive) June 22, 2024
The post Dolphins player under most pressure in 2024 NFL season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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