I don't know man. It might be just me but this seems like just another case of making excuses for Tua's erratic poor play last year. I certainly hope he's both 100% healthy and 100% recovered this year so we can all see the real player.
That's totally fair. 100%.
Here's the cool thing: Miami has set Tua up to succeed. So...we'll know. Quickly. Not like with Tanny, when the organization totally ******* up, and we were waiting after year 6, because there was still an argument about whether or not he was "the guy." In a year or two, I'm pretty sure we'll know that Tua is the guy, or he isn't.
The thing is, imo, Tua is being penalized for the Tannehill scenario.
Here's what I believe, for what it's worth (and that's worth nothing):
- I believe Brian Flores didn't expect Tua to be as healthy as he was in 2020. I think that's why he brought Gailey in, because he thought Fitz gave him a shot at the playoffs in 2020, so he set up FITZ to succeed.
- I believe Tua progressed much more quickly than anyone expected, and his practices led Flores to think maybe Tua gave Miami a better chance to win.
- I believe that Tua's exertion on his hip in the Arizona, San Diego and Kansas City games set him back a little...much in the same way a pitcher recovering from a major arm injury would take some time recovering from a rehab start.
- I believe that Tua generates a huge amount of his arm talent and velocity from his lower body. For instance, one of the coolest things about watching Tua in college was his ability to throw off of almost any platform by setting his hips parallel to the LOS and ripping the ball. His ability to do this on the move was phenomenal. He did this once or twice in his rookie year, and then he didn't to it again. I wonder...a LOT...about his recovery period after those games. I simply think he wasn't able to get his body to do the things he wanted it to do...because he wasn't 100% recovered.
- I believe that everything above this line doesn't mean **** as far as Miami is concerned, and if Tua doesn't produce by 2023, he's gone.