Pro and Con list of Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa

[RobertHorry]

After rewatching every snap of his from rookie year and last year. Wanted to put a list of his pros and cons from my own point of view. Everyone may have a different view, but thought to post them.

PROS

• Top level pocket presence. Can move in and out of the pocket with finesse and usually is always feeling pressure before it gets there. Rarely gets sacked even though he has one of the worst lines in NFL history.
• Very decisive when he makes a decision. Doesn't question himself and throws with confidence when he understands and knows the ask of the scheme and the defense he's going against.
• Extremely instinctual and can read defenses presnap at a high level. Knows how to attack different leverages and coverages.
• Sneaky athletic and can get cheap first downs with ease.
• Very aggressive downfield passer, even though media doesn't believe it and his offense didn't allow it last season because of Flores, the offensive line and lack of weapons. Even his OC said they cant go deep because the o-line can't protect.
• Accuracy is top level.
• When he is able to play point guard on offense, choosing exactly where to go with the ball based on his eyes and instincts, he's on fire.

CONS

• Very VERY inconsistent with his footwork and mechanics over last two years. Which is the opposite of him at Bama, when he had some of the most pure footwork and mechanics. His faulty mechanics and footwork at times leads him not to use his lower body to transfer his weight to throw and then he has to use all arm, which make throws sail over the middle or sometimes not get to the target.
• Sometimes locks into his presnap read and falls in love with it. Needs to do a better job of adapting post-snap when the presnap look changes post snap. Gets him into trouble. And he has to fix this.
• As a result of being overaggressive with the ball, he will try to force balls in windows downfield when he can take the easier route underneath. It got to the point where the offensive scheme last season rarely had anyone going deep and when they did he would try and force it because his natural instinct is to go downfield and deep.
• Makes a few bonehead decisions, which are a result of him locking into his presnap reads and being overaggressive.
• Sometimes will not rush for the first down when its there and instead try a throw and it'll fall incomplete.
• In the RPOs, he would tend to lean into the P of the play when he needed to hand it off based on the reads. He wanted to move the ball downfield so badly that he would try and overcompensate with throwing the ball as much as possible instead of relying on the run game.
• Wasn't trusting his eyes and wouldn't let it rip in the beginning of the season. As the season went on he did start trusting it more.

---------------------

If Tua can get his mechanics and footwork back to what it was at Bama, he will shine. He was one of the most aggressive downfield passers in NCAA history. You don't just lose that when you go to the NFL. It's a combination of not trusting his hip, not trusting his coaches, and not trusting his receivers and skill players. He needs to go back to that version of himself.

And I think with better coaching he will stop locking onto presnap reads and trust his eyes more. Which again will result in Bama Tua.

It's just crazy when people say Tua can't go deep or downfield. That was literally his game at Alabama mixed with intermediate and short passing.

He doesn't have the strongest arm in the NFL but you don't need that if you have accuracy and anticipation at a high level.

All in all, he needs to hone his mechanics, footwork, and keep getting better with his presnap and postsnap reads. He needs to trust his ability and coaching, which the last 2 years was the worst possible environment to do that.

 

[rent this space]

The hip was definitely a bigger factor on his first two seasons than I had anticipated. I’m very encouraged to see him looking healthier and stronger than he’s been since 2019.

 

[andyahs]

The hip was definitely a bigger factor on his first two seasons than I had anticipated. I’m very encouraged to him looking healthier and stronger than he’s been since 2019.

Yep. Flo should have never started him the year he was drafted and then continued to try ruin him with his obsession with dw.

 

[fin007]

After rewatching every snap of his from rookie year and last year. Wanted to put a list of his pros and cons from my own point of view. Everyone may have a different view, but thought to post them.

PROS

• Top level pocket presence. Can move in and out of the pocket with finesse and usually is always feeling pressure before it gets there. Rarely gets sacked even though he has one of the worst lines in NFL history.
• Very decisive when he makes a decision. Doesn't question himself and throws with confidence when he understands and knows the ask of the scheme and the defense he's going against.
• Extremely instinctual and can read defenses presnap at a high level. Knows how to attack different leverages and coverages.
• Sneaky athletic and can get cheap first downs with ease.
• Very aggressive downfield passer, even though media doesn't believe it and his offense didn't allow it last season because of Flores, the offensive line and lack of weapons. Even his OC said they cant go deep because the o-line can't protect.
• Accuracy is top level.
• When he is able to play point guard on offense, choosing exactly where to go with the ball based on his eyes and instincts, he's on fire.

CONS

• Very VERY inconsistent with his footwork and mechanics over last two years. Which is the opposite of him at Bama, when he had some of the most pure footwork and mechanics. His faulty mechanics and footwork at times leads him not to use his lower body to transfer his weight to throw and then he has to use all arm, which make throws sail over the middle or sometimes not get to the target.
• Sometimes locks into his presnap read and falls in love with it. Needs to do a better job of adapting post-snap when the presnap look changes post snap. Gets him into trouble. And he has to fix this.
• As a result of being overaggressive with the ball, he will try to force balls in windows downfield when he can take the easier route underneath. It got to the point where the offensive scheme last season rarely had anyone going deep and when they did he would try and force it because his natural instinct is to go downfield and deep.
• Makes a few bonehead decisions, which are a result of him locking into his presnap reads and being overaggressive.
• Sometimes will not rush for the first down when its there and instead try a throw and it'll fall incomplete.
• In the RPOs, he would tend to lean into the P of the play when he needed to hand it off based on the reads. He wanted to move the ball downfield so badly that he would try and overcompensate with throwing the ball as much as possible instead of relying on the run game.
• Wasn't trusting his eyes and wouldn't let it rip in the beginning of the season. As the season went on he did start trusting it more.

---------------------

If Tua can get his mechanics and footwork back to what it was at Bama, he will shine. He was one of the most aggressive downfield passers in NCAA history. You don't just lose that when you go to the NFL. It's a combination of not trusting his hip, not trusting his coaches, and not trusting his receivers and skill players. He needs to go back to that version of himself.

And I think with better coaching he will stop locking onto presnap reads and trust his eyes more. Which again will result in Bama Tua.

It's just crazy when people say Tua can't go deep or downfield. That was literally his game at Alabama mixed with intermediate and short passing.

He doesn't have the strongest arm in the NFL but you don't need that if you have accuracy and anticipation at a high level.

All in all, he needs to hone his mechanics, footwork, and keep getting better with his presnap and postsnap reads. He needs to trust his ability and coaching, which the last 2 years was the worst possible environment to do that.

Great write up and analysis. Thanks.

 

[djphinfan]

Its even more important for Tua to stress the importance of his footwork for thats how he generates his velocity on the ball.

dealing with the most stressful pocket in the league can have that negative affect as it speeds up the whole process.

 

[Fin-Loco]

After rewatching every snap of his from rookie year and last year. Wanted to put a list of his pros and cons from my own point of view. Everyone may have a different view, but thought to post them.

PROS

• Top level pocket presence. Can move in and out of the pocket with finesse and usually is always feeling pressure before it gets there. Rarely gets sacked even though he has one of the worst lines in NFL history.
• Very decisive when he makes a decision. Doesn't question himself and throws with confidence when he understands and knows the ask of the scheme and the defense he's going against.
• Extremely instinctual and can read defenses presnap at a high level. Knows how to attack different leverages and coverages.
• Sneaky athletic and can get cheap first downs with ease.
• Very aggressive downfield passer, even though media doesn't believe it and his offense didn't allow it last season because of Flores, the offensive line and lack of weapons. Even his OC said they cant go deep because the o-line can't protect.
• Accuracy is top level.
• When he is able to play point guard on offense, choosing exactly where to go with the ball based on his eyes and instincts, he's on fire.

CONS

• Very VERY inconsistent with his footwork and mechanics over last two years. Which is the opposite of him at Bama, when he had some of the most pure footwork and mechanics. His faulty mechanics and footwork at times leads him not to use his lower body to transfer his weight to throw and then he has to use all arm, which make throws sail over the middle or sometimes not get to the target.
• Sometimes locks into his presnap read and falls in love with it. Needs to do a better job of adapting post-snap when the presnap look changes post snap. Gets him into trouble. And he has to fix this.
• As a result of being overaggressive with the ball, he will try to force balls in windows downfield when he can take the easier route underneath. It got to the point where the offensive scheme last season rarely had anyone going deep and when they did he would try and force it because his natural instinct is to go downfield and deep.
• Makes a few bonehead decisions, which are a result of him locking into his presnap reads and being overaggressive.
• Sometimes will not rush for the first down when its there and instead try a throw and it'll fall incomplete.
• In the RPOs, he would tend to lean into the P of the play when he needed to hand it off based on the reads. He wanted to move the ball downfield so badly that he would try and overcompensate with throwing the ball as much as possible instead of relying on the run game.
• Wasn't trusting his eyes and wouldn't let it rip in the beginning of the season. As the season went on he did start trusting it more.

---------------------

If Tua can get his mechanics and footwork back to what it was at Bama, he will shine. He was one of the most aggressive downfield passers in NCAA history. You don't just lose that when you go to the NFL. It's a combination of not trusting his hip, not trusting his coaches, and not trusting his receivers and skill players. He needs to go back to that version of himself.

And I think with better coaching he will stop locking onto presnap reads and trust his eyes more. Which again will result in Bama Tua.

It's just crazy when people say Tua can't go deep or downfield. That was literally his game at Alabama mixed with intermediate and short passing.

He doesn't have the strongest arm in the NFL but you don't need that if you have accuracy and anticipation at a high level.

All in all, he needs to hone his mechanics, footwork, and keep getting better with his presnap and postsnap reads. He needs to trust his ability and coaching, which the last 2 years was the worst possible environment to do that.

Good analysis man.

You forgot to mention the point advantage with his full name in a game of Scrabble.

 

[Tuaffinity and Beyond]

Some of those cons are related to his injury so those are moot and the leaning on the P well yeah the online sucked and the running game sucked so why not try to get more yards instead of losing a down at the line. At least with that risk you potentially move the chains.

 

[bane]

Great insight horry. Really enjoyed post. It was very fair and balanced.
lots of good insight. I noticed several of the cons you mentioned. Especially the footwork. It has been all over the place the last two years. Great stuff

 

[mrbunglez]

Guessing a lot of his footwork and mechanics issues are due to recovering from that hip injury. Hoping to see a much improved Tua after 2 years of healing.

 

[GhostArmOfMarino]

After rewatching every snap of his from rookie year and last year. Wanted to put a list of his pros and cons from my own point of view. Everyone may have a different view, but thought to post them.

PROS

• Top level pocket presence. Can move in and out of the pocket with finesse and usually is always feeling pressure before it gets there. Rarely gets sacked even though he has one of the worst lines in NFL history.
• Very decisive when he makes a decision. Doesn't question himself and throws with confidence when he understands and knows the ask of the scheme and the defense he's going against.
• Extremely instinctual and can read defenses presnap at a high level. Knows how to attack different leverages and coverages.
• Sneaky athletic and can get cheap first downs with ease.
• Very aggressive downfield passer, even though media doesn't believe it and his offense didn't allow it last season because of Flores, the offensive line and lack of weapons. Even his OC said they cant go deep because the o-line can't protect.
• Accuracy is top level.
• When he is able to play point guard on offense, choosing exactly where to go with the ball based on his eyes and instincts, he's on fire.

CONS

• Very VERY inconsistent with his footwork and mechanics over last two years. Which is the opposite of him at Bama, when he had some of the most pure footwork and mechanics. His faulty mechanics and footwork at times leads him not to use his lower body to transfer his weight to throw and then he has to use all arm, which make throws sail over the middle or sometimes not get to the target.
• Sometimes locks into his presnap read and falls in love with it. Needs to do a better job of adapting post-snap when the presnap look changes post snap. Gets him into trouble. And he has to fix this.
• As a result of being overaggressive with the ball, he will try to force balls in windows downfield when he can take the easier route underneath. It got to the point where the offensive scheme last season rarely had anyone going deep and when they did he would try and force it because his natural instinct is to go downfield and deep.
• Makes a few bonehead decisions, which are a result of him locking into his presnap reads and being overaggressive.
• Sometimes will not rush for the first down when its there and instead try a throw and it'll fall incomplete.
• In the RPOs, he would tend to lean into the P of the play when he needed to hand it off based on the reads. He wanted to move the ball downfield so badly that he would try and overcompensate with throwing the ball as much as possible instead of relying on the run game.
• Wasn't trusting his eyes and wouldn't let it rip in the beginning of the season. As the season went on he did start trusting it more.

---------------------

If Tua can get his mechanics and footwork back to what it was at Bama, he will shine. He was one of the most aggressive downfield passers in NCAA history. You don't just lose that when you go to the NFL. It's a combination of not trusting his hip, not trusting his coaches, and not trusting his receivers and skill players. He needs to go back to that version of himself.

And I think with better coaching he will stop locking onto presnap reads and trust his eyes more. Which again will result in Bama Tua.

It's just crazy when people say Tua can't go deep or downfield. That was literally his game at Alabama mixed with intermediate and short passing.

He doesn't have the strongest arm in the NFL but you don't need that if you have accuracy and anticipation at a high level.

All in all, he needs to hone his mechanics, footwork, and keep getting better with his presnap and postsnap reads. He needs to trust his ability and coaching, which the last 2 years was the worst possible environment to do that.

So pretty much from your last paragraph all he has to improve on is everything relevant to playing the QB position more or less.

 

[RobertHorry]

So pretty much from your last paragraph all he has to improve on is everything relevant to playing the QB position more or less.

Nope. But try again.

 

[NBP81]

So pretty much from your last paragraph all he has to improve on is everything relevant to playing the QB position more or less.

Talk about your brain playing tricks on you...

 

[BennySwella]

Even his name is horrible. JK Tua lovers. Don't get your collective panties in a bunch.
Tua hasnt been horrible thus far. Just mediocre.

I await all the wonderful retorts from the lynch mob for simply having an opinion that is not theirs. BTW I still support Tua but I also think he needs better competition and needs to prove all the haters wrong this year. I love his accuracy but I think he is injury prone and makes boneheaded mistakes. He forces the ball too much at times which leads to most of his interceptions.

 

[NBP81]

Even his name is horrible. JK Tua lovers. Don't get your collective panties in a bunch.
Tua hasnt been horrible thus far. Just mediocre.

I await all the wonderful retorts from the lynch mob.

I mean, the only purpose of your post is to stir the pot... Dont pre complain about the lynch mob responding...

 

[BennySwella]

I mean, the only purpose of your post is to stir the pot... Dont pre complain about the lynch mob responding...

But stirring the pot with my genuine opinion? It is automatic no matter what I say. So how is that stirring the pot? I am simply putting the ingredients in the pot, and putting it on a slow simmer. Plus, I am playing around right now but people on here get mad no matter what is said if it does not fit the think-tank's consensus, even if it is a mild alternative.