Ever since the 2020 draft there has been a debate about who Miami should have drafted, Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert and that controversy will be there for as long as these two young franchise QB play in the NFL.
So let me settle this foolish debate by once again saying that the hindsight experts are all knowing and wise……. (Sarcasm)
If we went back to the 2020 draft, based off the situation back then, most folks would have done exactly what Miami did and drafted Tua Tagovailoa.
All you need to do is look at the “Mock Drafts” of the so-called experts at that time and see how they projected Tua and Justin going in the upcoming draft.
- NFL’s Daniel Jeremiah had Tua Tagovailoa 6th and Justin Herbert 20th.
- ESPN’s Mel Keiper JR. had Tua Tagovailoa 5th and Justin Herbert 6th. Here is what he said at that time… I just can’t see Miami passing on a quarterback, and Tagovailoa is higher on my board than the rest of the QBs
- Walters Football had Tua Tagovailoa 3rd and Justin Herbert 6th.
- CBS Sports had Miami taking Tua Tagovailoa 3rd and the Chargers taking Justin Herbert 6th
- SBN had Miami taking Justin Herbert 5th and Tua Tagovailoa going 6th to the Chargers
- The Sporting News had Miami taking Justin Herbert 5th and Tua Tagovailoa going 6th to the Chargers.
- SI also had Miami taking Justin Herbert 5th and Tua Tagovailoa going 6th to the Chargers
As you can see, of the seven Mock drafts 4 had Miami taking Tua over Herbert. Fast forward three years later and now many of them say they would take Herbert.
Even though I am not a “TuAnon” fan I have backed Tua over Herbert and only with a brief hint of insanity I wanted Deshawn Watson when the trade rumors were spreading in 2021.
Justin Herbert started his NFL career by having one of the best rookie seasons a QB can have, he easily won rookie of the year while Tua seemed to struggle under head coach Brian Flores.
In their 2nd season Herbert out did his rookie season throwing for 5,014 yards passing with 38 TD’s and 15 int’s in 17 games. Tua only had 2,653 yards passing with 16 TD’s and 10 int’s in 13 games.
After such a great start to his career Herbert seemed too many to be the better pick, that is for lazy people who did not investigate the different situations these two young QB’s faced.
Herbert landed in the perfect situation as a rookie and with a freak accident he was launched into the starting lineup, and he excelled. Herbert also had better talent to work with his first two seasons and a coach and team that backed him from day one.
Tua landed on a team that had a very likable veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick who had his handpicked OC and a head coach that did not like Tua from all accounts. The rock relationship between Flores and Tua and the poor offensive staff that Flores assembled did Tua no favors and the changing of OC & O-Line coaches every year with Flores never created a stable environment for our Young QB.
So naturally given the circumstances Herbert seemed the better QB. Physically there are no comparisons, Herbert is 6′ 6″, 236 lbs. while Tua is 6′ 1″, 217 lbs. but measurables are just eye candy and the league have all sorts of sizes at QB and have throughout history.
What about today?
Looking at both young Franchise QB’s I am sure there are plenty of teams that would give their entire draft to get their hand one or both young 24-year-old franchise QB’s.
Tua has finally been given this year the help he needs to play to his potential and the results are stunning!
Tua even though he missed 3 games due to a concussion has thrown for 2,859 yards, 21TD’s, 5 INTs with a QBR of 77.4 2nd in the league! Tua is the league leading vote getter for the pro bowl, and he has his team in line for a playoff berth.
What changed for Tua? Well, the Dolphins wisely fired Brian Flores and brought in the most intriguing HC ever in Mike McDaniel who has transformed Tua into the QB we were all expecting. Tua has weapons on offense and that has put him at the top of the NFL in his position as he is a legitimate top 10 QB.
Herbert on the other hand seems to be regressing, he has had to deal with injuries and instability at his WR position statistically he is just under Tua despite playing two more games. Herbert has thrown for 3,339 yards, 20 TD’s, 7 INTs with a QBR of 56.6 13th in the league!
The fact is both teams seem to have hit it in the 2020 draft as both young QB’s are looking at a huge payday and great careers ahead of them.
The one stat that Tua has maintained over Herbert, and it is the stat that truly matters the most……
- Tua Tagovailoa is 23-9 in his career.
- Justen Herbert is 21-23 in his career.
The Dolphin Seer 
I feel that Herbert is a very good QB and I would have no problem having him as a QB but I am much happier with Tua. I just won’t buy into hating Herbert like the media wants us to.
All Herbert has shown me is he can throw a much better interception than Tua.