Best 2021 NFL breakout candidate from every team

By Randy Gurzi | Jun 28, 2021

ASHBURN, VA - JUNE 02: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Washington Football Team hands the ball off to Antonio Gibson #24 of the Washington Football Team during the organized team activity at Inova Sports Performance Center on June 2, 2021 in Ashburn, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

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MIAMI, FLORIDA – JUNE 16: Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins throws a pass in practice drills during Mandatory Minicamp at Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southern University on June 16, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa, Quarterback

There could be a case made for defensive tackle Raekwon Davis who was solid as a rookie with 40 tackles in his first season. There’s also Robert Hunt, who played well at right tackle last season as well. Hunt and Davis were two bright spots as rookies but it was their first two picks who left the team really wanting more.

Austin Jackson, the left tackle from USC, had his growing pains and was one of the lowest graded at his position. He’s got the physical tools but probably wasn’t “plug-and-play” ready as some believed. The other rookie who struggled was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

The Alabama product led the Dolphins to a 6-3 mark as the starter for them but he wasn’t the reason for those wins. He wasn’t terrible by any means, completing 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,814 yards with an 11-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. But he also wasn’t great and even had two games with fewer than 100-yards passing.

Having said all that, Tua looked like a rookie. The only problem with that is the fact that Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert did not look like rookies. So that meant the Dolphins signal-caller took more than his share of criticism.

The good news is, Miami added a lot of talent to the passing game to help him grow. Will Fuller and Jaylon Waddle will be two new targets for him which should help him start to shed some of the doubt that’s hovering over him right now.

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