Former Patriots Player Has Strong Tua Takes

The debate on when Tua Tagovailoa will take over as starting quarterback for the Dolphins and how good he'll become continues with some strong comments from former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich

The notion of first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa being the opening-day starter at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins was raised last week by a national writer, but former NFL linebacker Rob Ninkovich took a different view.

Ninkovich, now an analyst for ESPN, spent eight seasons with Brian Flores with the New England Patriots, so he's got a pretty good idea of Flores' thinking.

"I would not start him right now, immediately," Ninkovich said on the "Get Up." show. "I was with B-Flo for eight years. He’s a very smart coach, he’s a very smart man. He’s not going to try and push him into a position too quickly. If you are forced into a spot where potentially his hip isn’t 100 percent, you want him to be 100 percent healthy because the game of football is very mental and confidence goes a long way. If you’re pushed out there too soon and you lose a little bit of that vital confidence, it can affect you.

"I would think Brian Flores has a great plan in place. He’s going to use a veteran quarterback, and hopefully Tua can learn from the veteran quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick and kind of go underneath his wing a little bit, get a feel for the NFL in his first year. It’s going to be different with no offseason and no rookie camp. We don’t know what training camp is going to look like. It’ll be interesting moving forward. But, look, I don’t want to push him into a situation too quickly where he could potentially hurt confidence or get hurt physically.”

Ninkovich, who played five games in two seasons with the Dolphins before his successful career with the Patriots, does think Tua will be worth the wait.

He made that clear when he was asked what quarterback 25 years old or younger he would take to start a franchise, with Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes not allowed as an option.

“The guy I would pick hasn’t even played an NFL football game," Ninkovich said. "Me and B-Flo, Brian Flores are like this (signaling closeness), I’m going with Tua. He’s the guy that I want my franchise with. I feel like he has the upside of a modern NFL, the new (I guess, scheme) offensively how you want to run the RPOs, the threat of running and the ability to throw down the field. I mean, we haven’t seen a hefty lefty since Steve Young that can go out there and throw the rock around like he can.

"I’m excited. I think he’s going to have a great career and I think in three years — give me three years — he will be the best quarterback in the AFC.”