Report: Dolphins naming Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback

The Miami Dolphins are taking a leap of faith after Tua Tagovailoa’s brief debut on Sunday. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, they’re naming Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback for the season, and Ryan Fitzpatrick will now be his backup.

Tagovailoa, the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft, played for Alabama in college. He served as backup to starting quarterback Jalen Hurts until he broke out during the 2018 national championship game, leading the team to a win after replacing Hurts at halftime. He was named the starter for the 2018 season and in 2019, but that season was cut short by a hip injury that required surgery and injected some doubt into his NFL future.

Tagovailoa declared for the draft and there were questions about whether a team should take him early. The Dolphins ended up selecting him and have been very cautious with him thus far. They slowly ramped him up during training camp and named Fitzpatrick the starter in Week 1. Tagovailoa didn’t even make his debut until garbage time in Week 6.

It appears that the time for caution is over. Following their decisive victory over the New York Jets on Sunday, and Tagovailoa’s long-awaited (though short) debut, the Dolphins appear to be going all in on their untested rookie quarterback.

The era of FitzMagic has come to an end and now it’s Tua time.

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