Tua will breakout year 2 for Miami.
Just wanted to get that out there. We dogged him for not being Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow in year one, even though he was more successful on the field in terms of wins and losses. We dogged him for not having the "it" factor on an NFL field that these other QB's have already shown us to have, even though 2 years prior he was arguably one of the best college QB's we've ever seen.
I doubted him at moments last year, I'm not going to lie about that, but I've always believed his talent is in there somewhere, he truly is one of the best QB prospects I've ever seen at the college level. His ability to strike with laser precision on a deep ball, throw with anticipation, and move around in the pocket - I don't care that he was throwing the ball to 1st round WR's, he was a top level thrower at the college level. QB's need their hips to work in conjunction with them and they need the confidence that they can swivel in order to make the throws they process in their minds. Last year was the learning curve year not only for him just being a rookie in the NFL but also coming back from major hip surgery.
We will see a different Tua this year, mark my words.
His teammates agree.
“He’s always had accuracy. That was never a problem. He always had the zip, always had the power,” safety Eric Rowesaid. “I just believe it’s that year-two jump that everyone needs to make from their rookie year. And obviously the type of offense. Last year, I even noticed his playbook was condensed to slants and bubbles. They really wouldn’t let him show his arm. Now seeing training camp, a lot more deep routes, they’re allowing him the opportunity to throw it deep. That’s what we need. Tua is making that jump. I see each day he’s getting better from the first day.”
Tight end Durham Smythe sees it as well.
“It just seems like confidence. That’s a big thing for year-one to year-two players,” Smythe said. “He understands the offense, yada, yada, has got a great arm. Everyone says that. Everyone knows that. But confidence year one to year two, that’s big. If he continues to develop that, the sky’s the limit.”
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