Patrick Mahomes or Tua Tagovailoa? Tyreek Hill said he'd pick Tua 'accuracy-wise'
Tyreek Hill's defense of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa continued this week when the receiver compared Tagovailoa to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Hill, who was traded to the Dolphins from the Chiefs for a plethora of draft picks this offseason, once again shot down concerns about Tagovailoa's arm strength in the first episode of his new podcast, "It Needed To Be Said." Hill even went so far as to say Tagovailoa was a more accurate passer than Mahomes.
"I've had a chance to see Tua throw the ball to myself. He's that dude, bro. A lot of people don't know — I'm not just sitting here just saying this because he's my quarterback," Hill said. "... He has a heck of an arm, he's accurate, he can throw the deep ball and he actually goes through his reads."
"Tua or Patrick Mahomes? Obviously, I'm going to go to [Mahomes] as the strongest arm," Hill said. "But as far as accuracy-wise, I'm going with Tua all day."
Tua or Patrick Mahomes? The answer might surprise you 👀 #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/dWb3etrtyd
— Bobby Shouse (@B_Shousejr) June 10, 2022
Coincidentally, Mahomes' and Tagovailoa's career completion percentages aren't far off from each other. Mahomes completed 66.1% of his passes from 2017-2021, while Tagovailoa completed 66.2% since 2020. So, technically speaking, Tagovailoa is the more accurate passer. But Mahomes does have 124 more passing touchdowns, 37 more wins, an MVP and a Super Bowl ring.
Hill also went on to say that he doesn't want to play with a quarterback who will just toss up a deep ball for him to go out and get. He wants a quarterback who will hit him "right in the breadbasket" so he can move with the ball. Hill also said he's added more routes to his game and could catch passes on short and intermediate passes as well as deep ones.
These quotes by Hill are eerily reminiscent of what new Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams said about Derek Carr this week. Adams claimed Carr and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers are "really similar" in talent and ability, despite stats and personal accolades that would say otherwise.
This isn't the first time Hill defended his new quarterback, either. The newest Dolphins receiver tweeted a highlight montage of passes from Tagovailoa after a different tweet of a bad Tagovailoa pass made its way around social media in mid-May.
Can y’all chill or nah ? We talking about practice 😬😬😬 @Tua 🥱#Dimez # Uno #soulrunner pic.twitter.com/HO6QnRuZxD
— Ty Hill (@cheetah) May 12, 2022
What went wrong in KC?
Hill talked a lot about his Chiefs' departure as well in his first episode. Though he said he enjoyed playing in Kansas City under Andy Reid and with Mahomes and Travis Kelce — who he claimed is the greatest tight end of all time — Hill and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said they felt the receiver wasn't being properly utilized by the Chiefs during the 2021 season.
"There were a lot of times during the year that we felt that Tyreek was underutilized and wasn't fully appreciated and that they really weren't taking full advantage of his ability and talent," Rosenhaus said on the podcast. "... Tyreek wanted to be in Kansas City and we tried to do an extension with them."
The under-utilization part is a bit of a misnomer if you look at Hill's 2021 production. Statistically, Hill didn't perform any better or worse in 2021 than any other season he played at least 12 games. Hill caught a career-high 111 receptions on a career-high 159 targets and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth time since 2017. He did, however, finish with six fewer touchdowns in 2021 than 2020.
Hill added that at one point this past offseason he spoke with Reid and Mahomes for 30 minutes before contract negotiations broke down between Hill and the Chiefs. Hill said he didn't want to be the highest-paid receiver in the league, but he wanted to be paid $25-26 million.
"They won't even give me [that]," Hill said.
Ultimately, Hill did hit that $30 million mark after the Dolphins signed him to a four-year, $120 million extension with $72 million guaranteed following the trade. Now he'll just have to wait to see if all the positivity he's been spouting all offseason is real when the 2022 season starts in September.
