Tua Tagovailoa Starting Against The Rams Doesn’t Make Sense

Tua Tagovailoa was named the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins yesterday for God knows what reason. I understand the concept of “Start your rookie quarterback and give them a taste of the league,” but why is that against the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald? Tua is likely going to get crushed by the Los Angeles defense.

What Is Miami’s Plan?

Starting a rookie quarterback makes sense in these instances.

1. The veteran/every other quarterback on the roster is complete trash. Think the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow.
2. The plan was to always start the rookie quarterback at whatever point in the season. Think Kurt Warner getting benched for Eli Manning
3. The current starting quarterback gets hurt. Think what happened with Tyrod Taylor in Cleveland and with the Los Angeles Chargers

So which one is it? Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing amazing football right now, and as far as we know, he’s not hurt. That leaves one possibility, starting Tua Tagovailoa against the Los Angeles Rams was the original plan the entire time.

Why The Rams?

So now the question shifts to, “Why the Rams of all teams?” The Dolphins could have easily started Tua at home against the New York Jets. That would be a great transition game, and it would be at home against the worst team in the league. A great way to get some confidence in the young rookie, but the Rams? Aaron Donald will give Tua a warm welcome to the league and an excellent introduction to the grass.

Fitzpatrick Made The Dolphins Better

Now, the Dolphins offensive line is better than it was in 2019. It’s not saying much, but it’s something worth noting. However, they are not as good as only letting up ten sacks on the season. Ryan Fitzpatrick has an average Time To Throw of 2.4 seconds, the third-fastest in the league. That takes a lot of pressure off of the offensive line because the ball is out so damn fast. Anyone with any knowledge of the game would know that Fitzpatrick’s Time To Throw deserves the bulk of the credit for giving up only ten sacks.

I’m not rooting for Tua to fail. I’m only saying that this move makes no sense at this time. Fitzpatrick is playing fantastic football, he’s not hurt, and the plan of starting Tua against the best defensive lineman in the league sounds too idiotic to be true.

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