Joe Rose played tight end for the Miami Dolphins for six seasons from 1980-1985 and now he’s the team’s radio broadcaster for 560 WQAM. For the most part, Rose is known for his namesake-colored glasses so for him to criticize quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not something that should be taken with a grain of salt.
This week on the Dolphins Talk podcast, Rose expressed his belief that Tua likely just can’t do it.
“Tua can’t make all the throws you need to make for what the weapons you have,” Rose said. “You got too much horsepower for that guy to drive. He can’t drive the car, it’s go too much horsepower. He can’t handle it.”
Is Mike McDaniel’s offense too complex for Tua Tagovailoa?
The complexities of head coach Mike McDaniel’s offense were apparent last season. When Tua went down for lengths of time – as he is want to do – whoever they threw in as a backup was in way over his head.
Quarterbacks Tyler Huntley (5) and Skylar Thompson (1) combined for six starts last season and the results weren’t good. It wasn’t just that they aren’t that good – they aren’t, although Huntley made a Pro Bowl once if you could explain that – but McDaniel’s offense is just too much for someone to walk in and learn off the street.
Heck, it seems like it just be too much for Tua and he’s in his sixth year starting in the NFL. It sounds like this is exactly what Rose is talking about. Even Tua almost admitted it before the Buffalo Bills game, when he praised their quarterback Josh Allen as being able to do things he could only dream of.
“He’s top tier… If it’s not with his arm, it’s with his legs,” Tagovailoa said. “Definitely a different skill set from me. I can’t do half of what he does when it comes to running the ball, and then how he can just chuck a ball down the field.”
While this isn’t an admission of anything, it gave a few people pause to hear his admiration for a divisional rival this way.
Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t sound like a great leader lately
Sure, an NFL quarterback has to go out and do it on the field. He has to read defenses and make the throws and all that good stuff.
But, there is also the aspect of intangibles. It’s one thing for Tua to make poor reads and throw costly picks like he did last Thursday night in the loss to the Bills, but it’s another to accept responsibility. In short, no one respects a finger pointer.
Tua talked about that interception following the game.
“I thought I was in rhythm, in timing of the play, seen the flat defender go over the top of Jaylen, Jaylen’s turning around,” Tagovailoa said. “That was a really good play by the defender. I had some color in my face trying to maneuver the throw. But 10 out of 10 times, if we’re looking at that same thing, I think I’d still try to work that timing of hitting that spot. I think the linebacker made a great play on that.”
Anyone else smell ‘not my fault?’
Rose could be correct that Tua just can’t handle the complexities of McDaniel’s scheme, but it doesn’t help when he’s not taking full responsibility for the mistakes that he makes on the field. It’s too bad that Chris Grier gave him that huge contract, but it might already be time to move on.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Former Miami Dolphin Says Tua “Can’t Handle It” appeared first on Heavy Sports.