ORLANDO — Tua Tagovailoa and Bryce Young were never teammates at Alabama, but they might as well have been.
Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins‘ QB1, is kind of a big brother to Young, whom the Carolina Panthers took No. 1 overall nine months ago.
Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa Discusses Bryce Young’s Rookie Season
“I think as far as my college career, [Tagovailoa’s impact] definitely was really big,” Young said back in October.
“It was a big reason why I went to Alabama. It was a big transition from when he was there — just, what the offense looked like and what they kind of moved to offensively. And it’s flourished since then. And I was a recruit when all that was happening. So, that was a really, really big reason for me being there.”
Tagovailoa was in the NFL by the time Young arrived in Tuscaloosa, but was determined to help guide his successor.
Young and Tagovailoa were both as big as it gets in college. Both won national championships, but Bryce has something Tua does not — a Heisman Trophy.
Young was basically unstoppable in his two years as the Crimson Tide’s starter and showed enough upside to convince the Carolina Panthers to take him first overall last April.
That decision in retrospect doesn’t seem so hot.
Not after C.J. Stroud — whom the Houston Texans took second after the Panthers passed on him — had one of the best rookie seasons by a quarterback ever.
Stroud, who like Tagovailoa is here this week as an AFC Pro Bowler, not only led the Texans to the playoffs but won in the Wild Card round.
Young, meanwhile, sputtered through a terrible situation. With no help around him and one of the NFL’s five-worst offensive lines, Young foundered.
Young ranked 34th among qualifying quarterbacks in both yards per attempt (34th) and passer rating (73.7) and 29th in QBR (33.3). Twenty-seven quarterbacks threw more touchdowns than Young (11).
His play was so bad, it contributed to Frank Reich getting fired after just 11 games (which featured one win).
So there are obvious questions about whether the Panthers got the pick wrong.
Tagovailoa apparently doesn’t share those doubts.
“I think he’s done a tremendous job with his team,” Tagovailoa said. “I think what people end up doing is they put too much on him, when it’s a team sport. It takes everyone.
“So Bryce can’t do it alone. And at a young age, I know he’s already realized that because he’s continuing to play his game regardless of what the score looks like and he’s been balling. So I just tell him to, you know, stay encouraged and keep the [faith].
“He’s capable of doing any and everything that any quarterback in this league does. Throws with anticipation, throws with timing, has good footwork in the pocket. You know, just the only thing that you know, that he lacks — just like me — just the size, just to see over the defenders. But outside of that, he has all the intangibles.”
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