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The never-ending Tua debate has entered its next chapter. Although Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played all eighteen games of the Dolphins season/postseason, put up career-high numbers across the board, and led the league in passing yards, the national media heads are still drinking the “replace Tua” Kool-Aid.
It seems that with every narrative Tua shatters, the doubters erase their past penciled-in criticisms and draw up new ones.
With Tagovailoa’s contract extension on the horizon, some of those national media heads are exploring other options in the case that money is too much for the Dolphins to swallow. The move gaining traction is the idea of the Dolphins drafting Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
Chris Brockman of the Rich Eisen show has the Miami Dolphins as a Penix Jr. landing spot in the second round. His main point supporting his take is the knock is Tua’s arm strength and that Penix Jr. could fit right in and have the Dolphins offense be just as good or better than 2023.
Anyone who watches Dolphins games has seen evidence over and over that debunks this claim. Granted that Tua doesn’t have a canon and falls into the bottom half of the league in that category, he’s still one of the best deep-ball throwers over the last two years.
I may sound like a broken record, but Tua uses his anticipation to hit his speedsters in stride on long touchdowns, and when the goal is to get the ball to the spot, Tua thrives.
I have a ton of respect for Joel Klatt, and I rarely change the channel when he shows up on The Herd. He’s a brilliant college football analyst, and when he talks, I listen.
Klatt was doing his 2024 NFL Mock Draft and had the Dolphins selecting Michael Penix Jr. in the first round at number twenty-one overall. Brockman had the Dolphins taking Penix Jr. after a drop into the second round at fifty-three overall. I would lean more toward Klatt’s draft spot than Brockman’s due to Penix’s fantastic 2023 season. He was arguably the best quarterback in college football up to the stinker he put up in the National Championship. I can’t see him making it to fifty-three. He’s probably a late first or early second pick.
Now Joel Klatt’s reasons to replace Tua with Penix start fair and understandable, but then take the same uninformed turn that a lot of the media’s takes on Tua do.
Klatt thinks that giving Tagovailoa a long-term contract is risky due to concussion issues and points to his concussion issues in college, how easy it is to keep sustaining them, and how they affect you more each time. I can’t and won’t fight him on this issue. He’s got a lot of first-hand knowledge, so I respect it. It’s the second part of his take. I have to push back on that.
He then suggests that Tua has underthrown Tyreek Hill too many times, and Tyreek has to adjust to make those catches. It’s uninformed. Like Brockman’s criticisms on Tua’s arm issues, Klatt has to be coming from a place where he does not watch Dolphins games or even Tua highlights. It’s all there, and it’s easy to find.
Where do I stand?
When I look at the Miami Dolphins drafting Michael Penix Jr, I like the move. That’s someone who’s writing this article with a Tua shirsey on. If the Dolphins made a move and got into the early second round to grab Penix, I’d give them a standing ovation.
We’ve seen over the last decade that smart teams draft a quarterback when they don’t need one, and the Dolphins don’t. Tua Tagovailoa is a legit franchise quarterback who deserves an extension, but he does come with baggage, whether it’s accumulated injuries or late-season struggles. Drafting Penix Jr. is a great backup plan if the Dolphins decide to have Tua play out his fifth-year option.
The idea of having a bigger, stronger version of Tua pushing Tua in camp and Penix getting the chance to learn from one of the best processors in the league seems like a win for everyone. The worst-case scenario is if Tua regresses, you have Penix waiting in the wings. If Tua balls out again next year like I think he will, you have your guy. You pay him, and get some quality draft compensation for Penix while he’s still a hot commodity.
There is some irony to the idea of replacing Tua with the “bigger stronger version of himself” in Penix, and it’s that Penix has a worse injury history than Tua does. That’s something fans should be wary of. The other side isn’t always greener.