Tua Tagovailoa mythbusting Why the Tyree

seestyle · 17-07-2022 09:07:51

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is going to be under the microscope in 2022.
On Wednesday, Miami made a surprising trade within hours of it becoming known Tyreek Hill was on the block for Nicklas Backstrom Jersey the Chiefs. The Dolphins shipped Kansas City five picks: 2022's first, second, and fourth-rounder and 2023's fourth and sixth-round picks. The deal made it clear Miami is pushing its chips in under first-time head coach Mike McDaniel, and proceeding with Tagovailoa as "the guy" after a lot of Deshaun Watson-to-Miami rumors last year.
After the Hill trade, however, some were left wondering: Can Tagovailoa get him the ball?
Tagovailoa's deep ball has been a big point of conversation in the immediate aftermath of the Hill trade, with some saying he doesn' Madison Bowey Jersey t have the arm to maximize Hill's speed as a strong suit.
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The Sporting News examines that notion as Hill joins the Dolphins:
Myth: Tagovailoa can't throw the ball deepReality: Tagovailoa can't throw the ball deep to the middle of the fieldTagovailoa does have a bad deep ball in a third of the field. He was 2 of 6 throwing deep balls to the middle of the field in 2021, by far his worst sector. The NFL's Next Gen stats graded Tagovailoa an absurdly low 4.9, paling in comparison to the league average of Martin Fehervary Jersey 84.7. Granted, the Dolphins didn't have a viable target over that sector, but Mike Gesicki at least should have given it a boost.
To the sidelines, it's a different story. Tagovailoa was between average and good throwing 20-plus yards outside of the hashes. He completed 7 of Nathan Walker Jersey 13 to the left and 5 of 10 to the right for a total of 474 yards. He had a big-time throw percentage of about 20 percent outside of the hashes. Patrick Mahomes averaged out to about 24 percent in that same restriction, though he had a much higher percentage to the middle of the field.
That is good news for Hill, who lives in motion and often ends up outside on drag and flag routes. If the Dolphins line gives the time for his routes to develop, Tagovailoa should be able to find Hill often.
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Myth: Tyreek Hill needs the deep ball to thriveReality: Hill's targeted air yards was averageThe great thing about pure speed is that it can utilized in Christian Djoos Jersey a lot of different ways.
There's no skirting the fact Tagovailoa's intended air yards was on the low end last year. He averaged just seven air yards per target, putting him ahead of Ben Roethlisberger and Jared Goff.
Hill, however, averaged just 10.4 yards per target last season, putting him middle of the pack as far as receivers go. For comparison's sake, that puts him alongside Jerry Jeudy and Deonte Harty, not to mention some big-name tight ends (Kyle Pitts, Mark Andrews).
Where Hill thrives is after the catch. Tagovailoa grades Dale Hunter Jersey out extremely well within 10 yards, easily within the upper echelon of the league. While that's easy to laugh at, it's good for Hill. If Tagovailoa can hit him in stride, and he clearly can, Hill will thrive.
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Hill is excited to play with - "Tua is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the NFL. "
Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) Myth: Tagovailoa struggles from a clean pocketReality: Tagovailoa is perfectly average when he's protectedWhen he's kept clean, Tagovailoa is good in the pocket. He isn't amazing, but he's comfortable. Last season, the southpaw completed 209 of 282 attempts Brett Connolly Jersey when he was kept clean, with 13 touchdowns and three picks. The addition of Terron Armstead will help the Dolphins maintain that pocket for Tagovailoa as he continues to progre s.
A lot of those dropbacks were on quick-hitting throws, where Tagovailoa thrives. Overall last year he completed just under 68 percent of his pa ses, John Carlson Jersey good for seventh in the league. Now, he needs to add more big plays to his resume to couple with his accuracy.
The other x-factor here is Mike McDaniel, who is used to having a Jaromir Jagr Jersey versatile weapon. There's a good chance McDaniel led the charge for Hill, as parting with Deebo Samuel is no small deal for a new head coach.
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There are aspects of Tagovailoa's game he has to improve, and none of this is to say he's perfect. He needs to make better throws over the middle of the field and cut down on his interceptions having 10 picks in 13 games last year isn't what you want.
However, the discourse around Tagovailoa having a weak arm simply isn't true. It looks like Miami is trying to build around him, and that's a good start. If Tagovailoa can continue to improve start to make better reads as plays break down, we should see a good connection between him and Hill.
There were glimpses of that with Tagovailoa's Alexander Alexeyev Jersey former Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle last year. But it's going to have to happen even faster with Hill if the Dolphins are going to get to where they're clearly striving to be this year.