Where do the Dolphins land with the expectation of a returning Tua Tagovailoa?
As the Miami Dolphins prepare to get Tua Tagovailoa back into the fold and under center, it’s hard not to look back and see what this team is without its starting quarterback.
In a world where the Minnesota Vikings are a top-ten team across the board with Sam Darnold as their starting quarterback, Miami has failed to put together a viable backup plan when Tagovailoa goes down.
They’re now in a “ Tua or bust” category, and just last year, the prevailing thought was that it was the other way around. He was referred to as a “Tyreek Hill, or Mike McDaniel merchant,” or that he gets carried by the weapons and play-calling.
We now know it couldn’t be further from the truth, and there are multiple levels between the Tagovailoa-led Dolphins and the Tagovailo-less Dolphins. Luckily for Miami, their star quarterback is officially back.
With the Dolphins coming off a 16-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the return of Tua Tagovailoa has given Miami some push in the rankings:
NFL
- Ranked #25 – Previously ranked #26 (+1)
“There is hope that Tua Tagovailoa — who’s been out since suffering a scary concussion in Week 2 — could play this week against the Cardinals. It’s good timing, considering Tyler Huntley left Sunday’s loss to the Colts with an injury to his throwing shoulder. Tua’s return theoretically could give the 2-4 Dolphins a chance to climb back into the race after losing four of five games in his absence. Only Denver and Cincinnati are ahead of them in the AFC wild-card chase right now, early as it is, so no one should close that door. Will Tagovailoa face any rust? And can he get the Dolphins’ best playmakers back into the gameplan? Tyreek Hill wasn’t targeted for the first half on Sunday and caught his only pass with less than two minutes left. Jaylen Waddle wasn’t targeted until the fourth quarter, also catching one short pass. That’s pretty much inexcusable, no matter who the quarterbacks are.”
ESPN
- Ranked #25 – Previously ranked #24 (-1)
“The Dolphins showed how much they valued Wright’s skill set when they traded a future third-round pick to draft him in the fourth round in April. He impressed throughout training camp and shined in his first real opportunity of the season — 86 yards on 13 carries in Miami’s Week 5 win over the Patriots. With the talent and depth in the Dolphins’ backfield, Wright isn’t likely to turn in a rookie season like De’Von Achane’s in 2023. But Wright could form a potent young tandem with Achane next season if he continues to produce.” — Marcel Louis-Jacques
CBS Sports
- Ranked #29 – Previously ranked #28 (-1)
“They can’t generate any offense. The good news is they might be getting Tua Tagovailoa back soon.”
Bleacher Report
- Ranked #24 – Previously ranked #27 (+3)
“The Miami Dolphins badly need quarterback Tua Tagovailoa back on the field.
Since Tagovailoa went down with a concussion, Miami’s offense has all but vanished. The Dolphins outgained the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but the team ran the ball a whopping 40 times. Explosive wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill combined for four targets and two catches for 19 yards. No team in the league is scoring fewer points.
Reports have circulated that Tagovailoa will return to practice this week, but Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was vague about Tagovailoa’s short-term status earlier this week.
“It is exciting that I do believe he’ll play football this year,” McDaniel said. “I never went down that rabbit hole of if he would or wouldn’t, just because I’ve learned through circumstance how that’s the wrong question to be asking. The right questions are completely, 100 percent toward the human being and the player as a result.”
If Tagovailoa isn’t back out there soon, it’s going to be too late.”
Analyst’s Take
“This week is less about what Miami didn’t accomplish against the Indianapolis Colts and more about whether Tagovailoa will return for the Week 8 game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Dolphins have been stuck in a holding pattern since they placed Tagovailoa on injured reserve.
This squad can’t do much when its quarterbacks complete two total passes to Waddle and Hill. With the window opening to potentially activate Tagovailoa, all the Dolphins can do is wait.” — Sobleski
Sports Illustrated
- Ranked #25 – Previously ranked #26(+1)
“The Tua Tagovailoa news brings the Dolphins to a kind of soft and mushy part of their schedule where they face winnable games against the unpredictable (and exhausted, after Monday) Cardinals, awful Raiders, soft Patriots (not my words!) and banged up Rams. I don’t think this season is over by a longshot if Tagovailoa comes back and plays to his average.”
Fox Sports
- Ranked #30 – Previously ranked #29 (-1)
“Rarely has a team ranked so low in the power rankings been so interesting. Miami’s been a wreck since Tua Tagovailoa’s injury, averaging 10 points per game over the past month. But Tua might be making his return, and the Dolphins are just two games under .500. Is there still time to save the season?”
Feels like the consensus ranking here is the mid twenties, to late twenties with the notion that the Dolphins are a wait and see team.
We can say that they’re a much better team with Tagovailoa, and most would agree with that, but even with him they were getting blown out by the Buffalo Bills, and barely escaped the Jacksonville Jaguars who are widely regarded as a bottom five team as of now.
One week of the Dolphins at full strength on offense and a good showing in a win over the Arizona Cardinals could catapult Miami into the top twenty, but the underlying feeling amongst the media waiting for the other shoe to drop, another concussion, could give viewers pause until the Bills game the following week.
That will be the real test for the Tagovailoa-led Miami Dolphins.
Let us know in the comments where you think the Miami Dolphins should be ranked in the NFL power rankings.
