Tyreek Hill believes people will regret negative comments about Tua Tagovailoa
Tyreek Hill remains a staunch supporter of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Hill once again came to Tagovailoa's defense on his podcast this week, claiming that pundits will regret doubting the Dolphins signal-caller this season.
"It’s gonna be a lot of people taking their words back on what they said about [Tua],” Hill said. “Reporters, analysts, Twitter trolls. All those people are gonna take their words back on what they said about [Tua]. I’m gonna be sitting there, eating my popcorn.”
In the same interview, though, Hill acknowledged Tagovailoa's window to prove himself is quickly closing. Tagovailoa is entering his third season in the league — a year which Hill believes will make or break the quarterback's career.
“You know, in the NFL they only give you like two or three years to be a successful quarterback, especially if you’re a first-round draft pick,” Hill said. “And if you don’t succeed after those years, then it’s kick rocks, man. So, basically, they’re going to put Tua into that. So this is basically his last year, man, just to show people what he’s got.”
Tagovailoa's numbers aren't awful since the Dolphins drafted him fifth overall in 2020. He has the third-most passing touchdowns and fourth-best competition percentage among quarterbacks drafted in the past two years, though far behind the two other first-rounders from his class — Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert.
Questions around Tagovailoa's ability have been asked ever since rumors surfaced the Dolphins were interested in trading for Deshaun Watson last year. Those concerns boiled over this offseason when the Dolphins tweeted a pretty pitiful practice video of a Tagovailoa throwing an awfully underthrown pass to Hill.
But Hill believes that video exists only to build a conversation around Tagovailoa, rather than indict his arm strength.
“I really believe they showed that clip of Tua under throwing me just to get people talking,” Hill added. “Because they really know what Tua’s capable of, for real.”
Hill's continued defense of Tagovailoa
This isn't the first time — and likely won't be the last — Hill advocated for Tagovailoa.
Hill is arguably Tagovailoa's biggest fan since the Dolphins traded a ridiculous amount of draft picks to the Kansas City Chiefs for Hill and handed him the biggest contract for a receiver in NFL history. A month ago, Hill praised his new quarterback and even said he'd take Tagovailoa's accuracy over Patrick Mahomes' arm strength.
"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. But as far as accuracy-wise, I'm going with Tua all day."
Whether that admiration continues during the season if Hill doesn't see the production he enjoyed with Mahomes in Kansas City remains to be seen. But for now, Hill wants everyone to put some respect on his quarterback's name.
