Four ways Tua Tagovailoa can build on his promising 2023 season

MIAMI — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa‘s offseasons generally have a theme.

In 2021, he was transitioning into the team’s starter. In 2022, he learned a new offense entering a season in which he needed to prove his capability as a franchise quarterback.

Then of course, last year he focused on building up his body so he could withstand the punishment of a full football season.

So what is his goal this year?

“There’s probably four things that I want to get better at,” Tagovailoa told Pro Football Network. “Am I gonna share? Probably not. But I’m looking forward to OTAs when we get to see you guys again and you guys can see us.”

The 2023 season featured myriad positives for the former No. 5 overall pick in 2020. He led the league in passing yards with a career-high 4,624, while also setting career-highs with 29 passing touchdowns and a 69.3% completion percentage.

Still, there are always things to improve. Here are four possible areas Tagovailoa could focus on for 2024.

1. Time to Throw

Let’s make this clear, Tagovailoa’s 2.36-second time to throw was faster than any quarterback in the NFL this season. His 78.9 QBR on passes taking less than 2.5 seconds to attempt was third-best in the league, trailing only the Los Angeles Chargers‘ Justin Herbert and Dallas Cowboys‘ Dak Prescott.

When he was forced to hang onto the ball longer than 2.5 seconds, however, that QBR dropped to 43.2 and his completion percentage dipped to 58.8%. As a result, 9 of his 14 interceptions this season came on passes of this nature.

Tagovailoa is not a one-read quarterback, but he can statistically improve when his first read is covered.

2. Throwing outside the pocket

Off-platform throwing was a focal point of Tagovailoa’s offseason in 2022, and while he was visibly improved last season in that category, he completed just 58.1% of his passes from outside the pocket, compared to 70.7% inside the pocket.

He was off-target on 21.2% of his throws outside the pocket, which ranked middle-of-the-pack among NFL quarterbacks — not debilitating by any means, but still an area to continue working on as he progresses in his career.

“Is Tua going to be a zone-read option quarterback? No,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “But I think he has developed in some [areas] — like buying extra time when necessary. I think that will continue to improve where you can just maybe move off the spot a little bit and not necessarily run for a first down, but you can extend the play. I think those things improve with a lot of things — the continuity of an offensive line group that you learn where guys are generally blocking from the launch point, and so then you know your safe spot is in the pocket.

“All these things, it’s all about progression. I think he just needs to continue to do what he has been doing in terms of progressing and I’ll be very much happy with that.”

3. Scrambling

Tagovailoa is not Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. As McDaniel said, he will probably never be known as a scrambler, although he was the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback when he signed with Alabama out of high school in 2017.

It’s also understandable that the Dolphins don’t want Tagovailoa opening himself up to hits after suffering two concussions in the 2022 season. But he was a non-factor as a runner in 2023.

Tagovailoa recorded 74 rushing yards this season and converted 5 first downs on the ground in 17 games. For reference, Easton Stick, Taylor Heinicke, Tyson Bagent, Anthony Richardson, Tommy DeVito and Jake Browning all eclipsed those numbers despite playing in fewer than 10 games.

Defenses don’t see Tagovailoa as a threat to run when he leaves the pocket, which means there’s a lower chance they bust their coverage when he extends a play.

There shouldn’t be any expectation for him to take off and run on any given down, but showing more of a willingness to do so may force a defense to take that into account, and game plan accordingly — opening up more passing lanes for him outside the pocket.

4. Taking care of the ball

No analytics necessary for this one.

Tagovailoa threw a career-high 14 interceptions in 2023, despite going more than a month without one from Nov. 24 to Dec. 31. He threw multiple interceptions in four games, also a career-high.

Sure, there were a few that weren’t entirely on him, where a receiver ran an incorrect route or a penalty wasn’t called. But there were also plays where defenders dropped a potential interception. It’s more efficient to address results instead of who was at fault, or what could have happened.

Taking better care of the ball is a broad goal but one Tagovailoa must accomplish for the Dolphins to reach the next step of their Super Bowl hunt.

McDaniel believes his quarterback has the exact temperament to do so.

“I just want to see him make sure the curve continues to be exponential in his growth,” McDaniel said. “We’ve seen at every stretch of the way him improving. That doesn’t mean it’s void of a result that isn’t desired. But what we’ve seen is him learn from all the things that he goes through.

“I think that’s the one thing that I can say in my two years of experience with him, is he’s as good of a learner as I’ve ever seen.”