Mike McDaniel Shuts Down Reporter Calling Tua A System QB
Mike McDaniel is one of the most creative offensive minds in the game right now, and it shows. The Miami Dolphins have been the most explosive offense in the league this season, dominating their way to a 5-1 record.
Not to mention, Tua Tagovailoa is playing at an MVP level right now. So far, he’s completing 71.1% of his passes and leads the NFL in passing yards (1,876), yards per attempt (9.5), yards per completion (13.6), passer rating (114.1), and is tied for 1st in touchdowns (14).
However, many believe that Tua’s success is due to McDaniel’s system, and not a direct result of his talent and hard work.
On Wednesday, McDaniel was asked if he felt like many other quarterbacks might also excel while playing in his offensive system. The second-year head coach did not hold back in defending his QB.
“I’m about to push this podium over,” McDaniel said. “My answer to that would be, who the F cares? Because it is a team, we’re working together, and I know one thing: I’ve coached stuff a long time. I haven’t seen people do what our guys do – to their credit, to their ability, and their commitment to their craft.”
Tagovailoa has been steadily improving every year since coming into the league in 2020. After a few rough years and trade rumors, Tagovailoa found his groove in 2022, showcasing significant improvement. He hasn’t looked back since then.
“As a teammate, we’re all dependent on each other. I’m not in any hurry to prove myself without those guys because those are part of who we are,” McDaniel said. “To say it’s this person or that person is kind of missing the point. It is a team working together, people working together. Myself, Tyreek Hill, Tua, cool, but what if no one’s blocking anyone? You know what I mean? We’re all connected in that way. That’s why, I think, a lot of the guys … Tua’s success in their success, Tyreek’s success, Waddle’s, Raheem’s, etc.”
The second-year head coach continued to say that statistics are great but it’s the full commitment of everyone on the team and in the organization that matters.
“It’s a journey that we’re experiencing together. Somebody will get the statistics from it, but none of those statistics are worth anything if you don’t have a full support from your players across the board, all 11, and then it goes down to the organization and all those things combined. But I know this: Our players run a lot of plays that I have a lot of history with, and it looks different, and that’s because of hard work and unbelievable abilities. Don’t try me on other players. I’m not trying to prove that.”
Tua will continue to face scrutiny of being a system quarterback, no matter how great he plays. Earlier this week, during a Tuesday morning segment on First Take, Stephen A. Smith implied Tagovailoa is just the beneficiary of being able to throw screen passes to Tyreek Hill.
It’s idiotic, as I mentioned before, Tagovailoa leads the league in yards per attempt. While Tyreek Hill is having a historic season with 814 yards through 7 weeks, Tagovailoa is having one of the best seasons for a quarterback in history.
Tua is currently on pace to break Peyton Manning’s single-season passing yard record with 5,488.
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