Mike McDaniel Understands Tua's Strengths and Limitations

Tua Tagovailoa is at his best when he has a clear picture of the defense and can deliver the ball with rhythm and timing. This is how he wants to play, but it’s also how he needs to play because he does not have a very strong arm. So how do you get him to that place as often as possible? That’s Mike McDaniel’s mission.

The Dolphins did not light up the scoreboard against the Patriots in McDaniel’s debut last week, only scoring 13 offensive points. However, Tua did have a good game statistically, completing 23 of 33 passes (69.7%) for 270 yards and a touchdown. If you watched closely, you could see that McDaniel was able to put Tua in the best possible position by making it difficult for the Patriots to disrupt the timing of the passing game.

One of the key ways he did this was through the use of motion. Motion does a lot of things for an offense. It can provide indicators of what the coverage might be pre-snap. It forces the defense to communicate on the fly and potentially make mistakes. It can force defenses into safer, more predictable zone or off coverages to avoid picks and rubs. And it keeps defensive backs from being able to jam or disrupt receivers at the line. This is a critical element for making Tua successful given his need for timing and rhythm.

The below play is a great example. This was on the Dolphins’ opening drive. Watch how Tyreek Hill motioned across the formation right before the snap. His man already appeared to be playing off coverage, but the motion and timing of the snap ensured that would be the case. And that kept New England from being able to disrupt the design of the play:

The Dolphins also used play-action here, so Tua was able to turn his back to the defense at the snap. By the time he turned around, and certainly by the time he was ready to throw, the picture was crystal clear. Hill would be open on a deep comeback with no surprises underneath:

That’s how to make life easier for your quarterback. It also can’t be that pleasant for a defensive back to see Tyreek Hill running at him with a full head of steam. That type of motion is going to open Hill up for some big plays this year, both on throws over the top as well as underneath the coverage.

On Miami’s 4th-down conversion that broke the game open in the second quarter, McDaniel again tried to make the picture as clean and clear as possible for Tua.