Football for dummies

I heard this is the name of the new playbook since Tua couldn't master the advanced edition?

A professional player that didn't know the plays.

here's what he actually said...

“I wasn’t as comfortable just in general,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday, following OTA practice in his first news conference since the 2020 season ended.

“I wasn’t comfortable calling plays. I think the guys that were here last year were phenomenal. I just didn’t have the comfortability of checking plays, alerting plays and doing that. I just rode with the play, even if I knew it wasn’t going to work. I was going to try to make it work still.”

Tagovailoa went on to clarify those comments:

“I didn’t actually know the playbook necessarily really, really good and that’s no one else fault but my fault. Our play calls were simple when I was in. I didn’t have alerts and checks. Where now, I feel comfortable and I can maneuver my way through these things now.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article251697113.html

not uncommon for a rookie. and then if you consider his focus was on rehabbing his hip. the Phins brought in an offense and offensive coordinator specifically designed to help then starting QB Fitzpatrick. the Phins had no plans of Tua actually seeing the field in year 1. but then Fitz limped the offense to a 3-3 record with a penchant for turning the ball over. against his original plan, Flores decided to insert a not-quite ready Tua in hopes of saving the season before all was lost - nobody wanted to see another Fitz led 7-9, 8-8 middling campaign. the Phins ended up 10-6. Tua is now the unquestioned starter and knows the new offense (one hopefully designed to maximize his skills) better than the old one that he was never really intended to run in the first place.

It would have been a miracle if Tua knew the playbook well last season. He didn't become the starter till halfway through the season, which means that he was running the scout team for the first half of the season. Running the scout team means that he was simulating the plays of the weekly opponent - NOT running the Dolphin offense and NOT spending time with starters. Add in no preseason, and Tua would have had zero opportunity to learn the Miami offense until he became the starter. To make matters worse, Gailey admitted that the offense was designed specifically for Fitz and he did not know much of anything about Tua - again, because Tua was working with the scout team.

If you want to "blame" anyone, blame Flores - because he is the one who named Tua the starter, with no input from Gailey. It turned out to be a wise move, as the team went 6-3 and Tua gained valuable experience that will give him an edge this season.

I liked the article and the additional insight coming out of this mini camp.

For a super-hyped QB coming out of college (and Tua qualifies, since he's been talked about as an elite NFL prospect ever since his Freshman year Championship win) - there is little better you can ask for than a humbling experience in their rookie year.

He knows what he needs to do, and was embarrassed by his play last year. Even though many of us believe (I am one of them) it was a fine year for a rookie QB - Tua is not satisfied with how he played. He wants to be the reason the team wins, not a passenger riding a very good defense and special teams unit to victory.

This, to me, is why the intangibles of a QB are so important. Things that can't be measured like work ethic, charisma, leadership, presence. Tua has all those. He might never become a top 5 QB but it won't be due to lack of effort or something he could have done but simply chose not to.

I think his future is very bright. The injury risk remains as it always has. I believe this is the season we see more zip on throws, threatening defenses deep, and the hallmark accuracy and anticipation which are the known strengths of his game.

One thing to remember is that Tua had the lowest Wonderlic score of all the QB's in the draft.

CarsonChris wrote:One thing to remember is that Tua had the lowest Wonderlic score of all the QB's in the draft.

Fake news.  Tua scored 19, Jalen Hurts scored 18.  To show how important the Wonderlic is, Jake Fromm was # 1 in that class, with 35.

Dan Marino scored 16.

EDIT: Nate Stanley actually had the highest in the class - 40.