Non-rookie NFL players ready to break out in 2021: Offense edition

Second- and third-year NFL players ready to break out in 2021: Offense edition

Quarterback – Tua Tagovailoa

Tua Tagovailoa was probably everyone's number two quarterback in the 2020 draft, ahead of Justin Herbert. A lot of us learned another valuable lesson from that evaluation, which is not assuming a player can’t do something, just because their coaching staff doesn’t allow him to do so.

At the same time, some concerns about Tua have increased after seeing what Mac Jones did in that same offense this past season, and, of course, some of the things we saw from the former Alabama QB in the pros so far.

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Tua had a very up-and-down season, and there are still things he has to prove in this league, but a lot of people seem to have written him off completely, which means his stock is low. Buy some of that while it’s at its lowest.

The main question mark remains that gruesome hip injury he suffered midway through his junior season in Tuscaloosa. His injury is apparently fully healed, but you can tell that it somewhat affected him as a rookie, in terms of being overly protective and just not fully trusting himself all the time, stepping into throws stuff like that, leading to some hesitancy in his game and conservative decision-making.

This offseason, we have also heard from the Dolphins QB himself, saying that he didn’t know the full playbook, explaining some of the late-game swaps for Ryan Fitzpatrick, in relief duty, so to speak. Taking these things into account, certain things require some context.

That disappointing three-interception performance in a must-win Week 17 game against the Bills left a bitter taste in the mouth but he did get picked off in just two other games, compared to his ten touchdowns thrown. Even re-watching that aforementioned matchup, there were three drops that killed drives in the first half and when the score was 28-13 midway through the third quarter, DeVante Parker fell down on his route, which had the ball land right in the hands of Josh Norman for a pick-six.

There were at least six (!) more passes that would classify as drops from that point, negating some huge plays (looking at you, Isaiah Ford), and one ball was a little high, which unfortunately bounced into the hands of the safety behind it, before we got the one pick that truly was on him alone, as he didn’t recognize the second safety bailing out late and tried to lead his tight-end Mike Gesicki down the field, who had slowed down on a seam route to counter the cover-two.

Two things to adore about Tua as a prospect were his quick release and the mental capacity combined with the sudden movement to rapidly work through progressions.

You rarely see him not being in a throw-ready position, as his upper and lower body work in sync and his eyes are up. The Dolphins used those skills in the quick and RPO game, where you can clearly see Tua’s understanding for spacing and leverage, as he consistently got the ball to his receivers on stick or hook routes with perfect timing, in combination with his drops.

Along with that, you saw Miami move the pocket a lot, with play-action off zone and power runs. After all, he does barely measure in at six feet, and giving him that vision can be beneficial, especially combined with his ability to quickly flip it to somebody in the flats, change up that arm-angle a little bit, but also go behind that to somebody on a deeper crossing release and release the ball off the wrong foot.

Along with his skills to win with timing and accuracy, he does have better play-extension skills than he gets credit for. Tua has that quick-twitch movement inside the pocket, being able to reduce that left shoulder to elude edge rushers and/or roll towards the sideline.

What's more to love about him is that his eyes don’t come down on the rush, but at the same time he has a good feel for bodies around him and can quickly peak without having to relocate his targets too much.

He doesn’t have the speed to really scare the defense as a runner, but he is certainly capable of taking advantage of opponents not accounting for him on zone-reads, and when he takes off as a lane opens up in front of him, he has some shake to him to make a guy miss in space, while understanding when to protect himself and slide.

We saw that on several occasions in the Arizona game last year, when he seemed dead to rights, but somehow slipped through a crease.

Tua simply didn’t have the weapons that complemented his skill-set last season. We did see him become more willing to throw the ball down the sideline for Devante Parker and Preston Williams when he got them matched up one-on-one with the opposing team’s number two corner, where there was no safety over the top.

He will have to learn attacking those kinds of favorable matchups, but coming from Alabama’s wide-open offense, he was hesitant to release the ball when defenders were still in phase and he needed guys who could quickly separate, as well as make things happen after the catch, to give him more comfort at attacking the deeper levels of the field. With both Parker and Williams having less than a quarter of their yardage coming after the catch, and Mike Gesicki with one career broken tackle over three seasons, that doesn’t really match.

That’s why the Dolphins signed former Texans Will Fuller as a free agent and used their sixth overall pick in the draft to reunite him with Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle.

It will be interesting to see exactly what the offense of co-coordinators George Godsey & Eric Studesville will look like. Chain Gailey did some good things last season, adapting some creative play-designs, like Kansas City’s double-swing fake tight-end screen, but he did protect Tua a little too much even, with predetermined throws, like dumping the ball off to somebody on a flat route off a little run fake, no matter if a defender was waiting there.

No doubt, Tua has to grow and become a more aggressive passer, which is why hearing the reports about him throwing picks in practice was encouraging, as he’s still learning what he can get away with in the pros.

His arm strength is average at best by NFL standards, but his mechanics are pretty much perfect and he is capable of getting the ball into some tight windows if he’s just willing to attempt them. You see drift too deep in the pocket at times and with a lack of knowledge about the playbook, you simply didn’t see Tua make a lot of pre-snap adjustments.