Great questions
@mwestberry !
Not everyone will have the same take, but here's my $0.02 on it.
Skill Positions
The offensive skill positions (QB, WR, TE and RB) aren't the guys really in a learning phase, it's the non-skill positions (OL) who are. Yes, Preston Williams (WR) and Mike Gesicki (TE) are in the learning phase. You can make the case for other players too such as WR's Isaiah Ford and Jakeem Grant, but those guys do not play as much. Ditto for young TE's like Smythe and Shaheen. While an argument can be made that our RB's (Gaskins in particular) is still in the learning phase ... typically RB's have almost no learning curve. Their only real learning curve is learning to pass protect, and I think it's safe to say that this will never be a strength of Gaskins or Breida. So really, just Preston Williams and Mike Gesicki as skilled position players in the learning phase. Neither is a rookie, and they're fairly developed at this point.
Learning Phase
Our OL has an extremely young and inexperienced LT, a young RG, new veterans at OC and LG, and our RT has changed positions so many times over the past few years it's laughable. So there is going to be a learning curve for the players, a learning curve for the group chemistry, a learning curve for the new coordinator, and the learning curve because ... well ... Miami has it's temptations even during a pandemic. IMHO, it is our OL that is the X factor, and so far, it looks fairly average, which is light years better than we typically have. Huge bright spot in my eyes. Great source of optimism.
Offense when Tua plays
So this really has two components, one is Tua and the other is the offense. Tua himself is still rehabbing his hip. Anyone who doubts that just needs to look at his pre-injury velocity at Alabama and his current velocity on throws we've seen in camp. He can definitely come back before it is fully healed ... but exactly how much earlier is more of a doctors question than a football analysis question. IMHO, I do not want to jeopardize the future of a great Dolphin to satisfy fan curiousity. I remember when Tony Sparano played a one-armed Jake Long waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before he was ready, and facing a tremendous Bears pass rusher with only one freakin' arm. From that day onward, Jake Long was never the same. He had one injury after another, never strung together a truly healthy run, declined greatly and quickly. IMHO, that was a DUMB move by Sparano, and one for which I never forgave Coach Fist Pump. I do NOT want to take that kind of risk with Tua. We're not going to the playoffs in 2020 ... sorry to break it to everyone, but we're not. Maybe I shoulda said "spoiler alert" but I doubt this is a surprise to anyone. Tua's health and development are priority #1 for me. I'd err on the side of caution if I were in charge.
The offense, sure, it will change. It is a widely held belief that Fitzmagic is among the smartest and most knowledgeable QB's in the NFL right now. He knows Gailey's system and has a lot of experience in it. He has a history with his receivers (Parker, Gesicki, Williams, Grant) and has is timing down. Definitely not a perfect player, but Fitz can implement the entire offense, which makes our offense less predictable. When Tua comes in he will be limited to only running a part of the playbook (maybe 1/3 of it) because that's the part he has mastered, can physically do well, and truly understands. Every rookie goes through that. Our offense will become more predictable, and we will rely on the OL to block a bit longer and the WR's to win their matchups more as Tua inevitably takes a beat to process what he sees. And, like all rookie QB's, he's not always going to see things correctly with the incredible speed of NFL play. But, IMHO, Tua's greatest strength is his decision making, so I suspect that he will improve that before the end of the year. How fast he does this .... meh ... we'll just have to live with that and accept how long it ends up being. That's part of package when a team breaks in a young QB, so let's not sweat it.
Additionally, Tua is young, and can throw deep pretty well despite his below-average NFL arm strength. That should open up more routes for Gesicki's seam routes deep, Jakeem Grant to press safeties high, and bucket drop 50/50 balls for DVP deep. In turn, if those are successful at a moderate rate, it will open up run lanes for Gaskins & Co. (I still have hope for Breida) as the safeties drop deeper and we face more coverage-based defenses. But on the average, most coaches call a ton of short junk (throws less than 5 yards past the LOS) to get the rookie's confidence up and minimize his chances of making mistakes. So, our offense may be even less consistent than it is now. He will throw picks ... it's inevitable. The key is that he learns from them and not make the same mistake twice. I think he will learn from them.
Letting the Team Come Together
I agree, letting the team come together is exceedingly helpful to a young QB. Tua can come in and adjust to the tremendous increase in speed and complexity that the NFL coverages throw at a young QB. Most rookies hold onto the ball too long, and our OL is shoring up so maybe they can allow him to do that while he learns. We're trying to establish a run game to take some of hte pressure off him ... but we're definitely not there yet, and I'm uncomfortably confident that the Seahawks will show us why we're not there yet. But hey, we have BIG receivers (DVP, Williams, Gesicki, Smythe, Shaheen) to provide big catch radius for Tua. Remember, Tua had the ultra-fast WR at Alabama ... and rarely threw him the ball. Tua works better with guys who present a bigger catch radius, and we have them on the team already, so once he adjusts to the NFL speed and complexity, and gets chemistry with his WR's ... he will be in a good place. We just need to keep him healthy, confident, and resilient while it happens.
