Kelly: Tua Gaining Play-Calling Powers is Next Step in QB Evolution

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel says "a moment" that happened against the Giants indicates Tua Tagovailoa is ready to take the next step in his quarterback evolution

At some point our children no longer want to hold our hand as we walk them to school.

Eventually, they’ll no longer need an escort, instead preferring to wait for the school bus on their own, or make the journey solo.

That’s the natural evolution of parenthood, and during last Sunday’s 31-16 win over the New York Giants, Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins’ head coach, experienced the maturation of Tua.

Tua Tagovailoa metaphorically waved goodbye to McDaniel on the first drive of the second half while the Dolphins were facing a third-and-4 from Miami’s 31-yard line.

McDaniel called in a play Tagovailoa seemingly didn’t like and the fourth-year starter, the top-rated passer of the 2022 season and the No.2-rated passer after five games this season, chose to ignore his coach's instructions and call his own play.

“I misheard him,” Tagovailoa said with a coy laugh.

When McDaniel saw the Dolphins skill position players lining up incorrectly, his first thought was to call a timeout.

“Then once I saw people moving with conviction, I was like, hey, let’s see what play-caller Tua has for us,” said McDaniel, whose offense set an NFL record for yards produced (2,568) in the first five games, surpassing the 2000 St. Louis Rams.

TUA DIALS UP TYREEK

The play Tagovailoa called put All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill one-on-one against a rookie cornerback, who had just sprinted 40 yards across the field to line up against the speedster.

When the ball was snapped, Giants safety Xavier McKinney bit on the underneath route, which allowed Tagovailoa to let a deep pass to Hill sail through the air, and the end result was a 69-yard touchdown that provided a 24-10 lead.

“He said a play, and I told him I misheard him as I was looking at it. I was like, let’s just run this play,” Tagovailoa said after the game in a braggadocious manner, which is out of character for the former Alabama standout.

But Tagovailoa seemingly wanted to share the next step in his evolution as an NFL quarterback with the world.

“I don’t think I should be saying that was the wrong play call. I called the wrong play,” Tagovailoa said. “I called my own play.”

And that play happened to provide a peek into Tagovailoa’s maturation, which McDaniel has praised since the offseason program.

Sunday was the first time he had disobeyed his coach, and it paid off.

It was like a pitcher shaking off a call from his catcher.

A BIG MOMENT IN TUA'S 'JOURNEY'

McDaniel likely wanted to go conservative, aiming for the first down, and Tagovailoa, who is the NFL’s highest-rated passer (119.1) on third downs since 2022, wanted the Giants’ jugular.

“That’s one of the moments that in the story of his journey that is indicative of where he’s at,” McDaniel said. “It’s hard to visualize what play he actually called because you’re just thinking that nine people are messed up. Then that’s the type of stuff that you can’t manufacture, to be able to have the wherewithal to say, you know what, let’s put it in mine and Tyreek’s hands. I’m just very, very proud of him.”

McDaniel has called Tagovailoa a “football savant,” so this is a logical progression for the quarterback, who is the trigger man behind the Dolphins’ historic offense.

Legendary quarterback Dan Marino had play-calling ability under Don Shula, and their level of trust in one another was what made Marino a record-setting passer.

The play-calling powers were eventually taken away during the Jimmy Johnson era, which was at the epicenter of Marino and Johnson’s relationship getting frosty.

Quarterback gaining play-calling powers comes down to trust, and Tagovailoa seemingly has that from McDaniel, who expects Tagovailoa to call even more plays in the huddle, which is something that often occurs with the NFL elites.

“The whole idea is a bunch of people working together, and it’s all of the players, coaches, the team. It’s all our offense. The players will always be the ones that make it come to life,” McDaniel said. “Shoot, if he thinks he’s got a better thought than I do, I would prefer him to do that. Whether he heard or not, he knows for a fact that regardless of what happens, if he’s able to execute out there that I’m not going to be mad at it.”