Tua Tagovailoa mixed reviews at Dolphins camp are still a net positive

Tua Tagovailoa has drawn up-and-down reviews early at Dolphins training camp.

In the wake of a season-ending hip injury at Alabama last year, there were questions about whether quarterback Tua Tagovailoa would even enter the 2020 NFL Draft. Of course, he did, passed every benchmark test regarding his health and was selected No. 5 overall by the Miami Dolphins. But now his NFL career as started and he’s pegged to be the franchise player.

Subsequently, everything that Tagovailoa does at Dolphins training camp on the heels of an offseason with no OTAs or minicamps will be watched intently. Will he take the starting job from veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and, if so, when? And if that happens, how good will he be?

Well, the early returns are a bit inconclusive. When Miami head coach Brian Flores was asked about the rookie signal-caller’s performance in training camp practices thus far, he said the following of his newest offensive leader, per Safid Deen of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

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"“Some good, some bad. Some good throws and good decisions, some throws that aren’t so good and some decisions that weren’t so good.”"

Suffice it to say that the head coach is giving Tua mixed reviews for his showing early at training camp. Nothing said there gives an indication that he’s ready to usurp Fitzpatrick as the starting quarterback but nothing buries him on the depth chart either. But when you get down to it, the inconclusive early results and reviews are ultimately a positive for the Dolphins.

Even mixed reviews are a good thing for Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins.

At the start of 2020, there was legitimate concern about whether or not Tua Tagovailoa would be able to play this season at all given his recovery from the hip injury. The simple fact that he’s on the field and competing for the starting quarterback job in Miami is inherently good for his outlook. All indications are that he’s healthy and not being held back by anything physically.

Beyond that, though, it’s important to remember that Tagovailoa is a rookie. There is a tremendous learning curve for a rookie at any position making the leap from college to the NFL. That is exceptionally true, though, as it pertains to quarterbacks. The “some good, some bad” assessment from Flores should be expected from a rookie in a normal offseason.

And this has also been anything but a normal offseason for Tua and the rest of the league. With no offseason workouts, he’s had to learn the playbook largely over Zoom meetings and studying by himself with no official on-field work with his teammates. So that learning curve is further steepened by not getting the full load of offseason work rookies are normally afforded.

Yes, it would be fantastic for Tagovailoa to have taken the field at Dolphins training camp and immediately look like Dan Marino. But with all of the factors in play, that was always going to be near impossible.

The fact that Tua is on the field and already showing some positive things, given everything that he’s faced this offseason, is reason for optimism. Do we know when the rookie is going to finally take the reins of the offense? Not yet. However, it would feel fair to say that anyone feeling positive about his chances of being a franchise quarterback shouldn’t feel any different after his first camp practices.