NFL Player Props: Tua to chuck it around in Year 2

A tough first season has caused the hype around Tua Tagovailoa to dissipate but Neil Monnery likes the former first-round pick to throw for a bunch of yards in the 2021 season...

Coming out of college I was a huge fan of Tua Tagovailoa. Watching him on Saturday’s I really thought he had everything he needed to become a very good NFL QB. Having seen what he put together in his rookie season however I’m a lot more skeptical and the jury is very much still out.

What must be taken into account is that the 23 year-old was still recovering from a serious injury that curtailed his final season in college. There must be doubts that he was ever 100% healthy and even if he was - the likelihood that he was able to train at full capacity in the off-season must be pretty thin.

Early reports coming out of training camp are extremely positive but that is exactly what you would expect. How often do you hear that players aren’t balling out and aren’t in the shape of their lives? So take that with a pinch of salt but what can’t be denied is their Dolphins GM has given him a plethora of targets in the passing game.

Jaylen Waddle is another of these extremely talented wide receivers coming through the football factory that is the Alabama Crimson Tide. He averaged 18.9 yards a reception through three years playing under Nick Saban with those numbers improving to 21.1 yards a reception in his final season. His junior season was slowed dramatically when he suffered a broken ankle against Tennessee but he has WR1 skills and he played with Tua in college. I expect a big year for him.

Last year DeVante Parker caught 63 passes on 103 targets as he soared up the WR ranks. Three times he cleared 100 yards in a game and with Waddle attracting plenty of attention, he could easily beat those numbers last year.

Will Fuller V is also a boom or bust pick-up who can stretch the field. He’s likely to enter the season as WR3 and with the athletically gifted Mike Gesicki starting in the Tight End position, you can’t deny that the powers that be in Miami have given their first-round QB everything he needs to excel.

In a pass-heavy offense and with no real top-notch backup ready to step-in and start - Tua will get plenty of leeway to get to grips with the NFL. 3850.5 yards works out as 227 yards a game so if he starts all 17 matches, it would be a huge disappointment if he failed to perform up to those levels.

I’ll happily take the over.

Pick: Over on the Tua Tagovailoa passing yards market (3850.5 yards) at -124.