A lot has been made about Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his relationship with new wide receiver Tyreek Hill. More importantly, skeptics don’t believe that Tua has what it takes to connect with the speedy Hill on long passes.
Taking part in their final preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday, new head coach Mike McDaniel attempted to quiet this narrative on the first play. Acting the part of an absolute troll, the offensive genius opted for a play call that had Hill as Tua’s top read deep down the field. The rest is pretty much history.
Alrighty then. Talk about staring the game off with a bang. Tua would go on to lead Miami on a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive culminating in a eight-yard score to wide receiver River Cracraft.
As for Hill, he caught another 13-yard pass on that first drive — finding an immediate connection with his new quarterback.
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Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill connection in mid-season form
It must be noted that Miami went with its first-team offense to open the preseason finale while Philadelphia was playing reserves. Even then, this has to be seen as a good thing for the Dolphins heading into Week 1 against the New England Patriots.
It was just this past offseason that Hill made waves by saying that Tua was more accurate than his previous quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, after the blockbuster trade sent him to South Beach.
“I’ve had a chance to see Tua throw the ball, to myself, but he’s that dude, bro. Like, what a lot of people don’t know, like, I’m not just sitting just saying this because he’s my quarterback now … like, I’m not trying to get more targets right now, but what I’m trying to say is Tua is that deal, bro. He has a heck of an arm, bro. He’s accurate. He can throw the deep ball, and he actually goes through his reads. Obviously, like I’m gonna go with [Mahomes] as the strongest arm but as far as accuracy-wise, I’m going with Tua all day.”
Tyreek Hill on Tua Tagovailoa
These comments actually drew death threats. It’s a real thing that actually happened.
Either way, Tua is entering a make or break third season with the Dolphins. He has the weapons to succeed. He has the offensive mind in McDaniel to help him along the way. He also has a receiver in Hill who is averaging 84 receptions for 1,207 yards over the past five seasons.