By: Jake Rajala

The Miami Dolphins selected Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall in the 2020 NFL draft. Tagovailoa has taken positive strides in the past two years, but he hasn’t lived up to his draft expectations. Here is a look at how productive the Dolphins QB has been in his career thus far:

*stats are according to Pro Football Reference

• 13-8 career record
• 27 passing touchdowns and 15 career interceptions
• 66.2 completion percentage

It’s clear that Tua has been a productive QB, but he hasn’t proved to be an elite QB in the yards or touchdown category. The Dolphins have been rumored to trade Tua and potentially trade for a talented QB over the past year.

The biggest reason why the Dolphins could opt to not trade Tua is the recent hire of the former 49ers offensive genius Mike McDaniels. The speculation is that McDaniels has more trust in Tua than Brian Flores and that McDaniels will help Tua succeed in the near future.

I still don’t believe Tua is completely safe as the Dolphins future starting QB. McDaniels may have been optimistic towards Tua and the Dolphins fan base on Day 1, but I wouldn’t expect McDaniels to tell the world that he doesn’t have faith in Tua, who was one of the most popular players in the league when drafted. I also don’t think McDaniels has completely bought it on Tua and I expect the Dolphins new head coach to scan his options at QB, especially when the Dolphins play in the frigid AFC East. McDaniels also knows that he needs to bring the Dolphins back to the playoffs soon. They won seven games in a row last season, but they still didn’t make it to the playoffs.

The Dolphins have the most cap space in the league and they could decide to add more pieces around Tua and push for a playoff berth in 2022. I still think that McDaniels could potentially ship out Tua for a more talented QB, especially when Tua isn’t well-established and many elite, disgruntled QBs are available. With that said who could trade for Tua and who could McDaniels seek out in return? Well, here are a few potential teams that could make a trade involving Tua.

Dolphins trade Tua, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for Kyler Murray

If Kliff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals believe it’s imminent that Murray won’t be a Cardinal, they should get a slightly worse version of Murray and more draft picks in return. McDaniels is all too familiar with the magic of Murray in the NFC West. He would be the best combination of talent and age on the QB market this offseason.

Tua holds a similar skillet as Murray, as they both can make big throws and make plays with their legs. Murray is obviously a lot quicker than Tua, but the Dolphins younger QB can run a very similar playbook that Murray ran in 2021. The talent of DeAndre Hopkins and potentially Zach Ertz (2022 free agent) could help Tua progress in Arizona.

Dolphins trade Tua and their 2022 first-round pick to the Packers for Aaron Rodgers

The Miami Dolphins could seek to add a few free agents with their cap space and then acquire the mighty Aaron Rodgers. McDaniels could really come out guns blazing with A-Rod in 2022. McDaniels may not be the former OC for Rodgers (also known as Nathaniel Hackett), but he could create a more attractive picture than the Broncos to lure Rodgers.

Matt LaFleur could trade away Rodgers for the potential heir to Rodgers in Tagovailoa. LaFleur has already stated that Jordan Love isn’t ready to have the keys to the offense. Love has been mediocre in pre-season and he only led the Packers to score 7 points against the Kansas City Chiefs in his lone start in 2021. If LaFleur feels like a Rodgers trade is imminent in 2022 or that they feel like he can’t bring them to win a Super Bowl next season, he could pick up their future QB in Tua. If LaFleur doesn’t have the right replacement for Rodgers when he hangs up the cleats, the Packers could struggle for many years.

Dolphins trade Tua to the Browns for Baker Mayfield and a 2022 third-round pick

The Cleveland Browns could likely move Baker Mayfield and I expect that Kevin Stefanski wants a prominent QB in return. He has familiarly with the Vikings signal-caller Kirk Cousins, but I also imagine that the Browns could be a wild-card team to land Tua. The Dolphins QB can be a much better game manager than Mayfield for Stefanski, while McDaniels can dream up deep passing concepts with Jaylen Waddle and Mayfield. I also believe Baker has a higher ceiling than Tua in the passing game strictly.

If the Dolphins trade away Tua for Mayfield, they could receive more compensation from the Browns, too. The Dolphins could draft a WR or RB in the third round (or trade up into the second round) with another potential third-round pick.

The Dolphins might be an oddball team to inquire about a Baker trade in Stefanski’s mind, but it could be the right deal. He should be persistent about getting a QB that’s younger and more conservative with the football, such as Tua.

Dolphins trade Tua to the Saints for a 2022 first-round pick

If McDaniels is in love with selecting one of the QBs in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, he should really seek a trade with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are a very popular landing spot for Matt Corral. The Dolphins could send the Saints Tua, while the Dolphins grab the Saints first-round spot (18th) and pick Corral in the first round.

The Dolphins could pick up Corral and still pick an offensive lineman or WR at 29th overall in the draft. Meanwhile, the Saints could have a young QB that they can develop in the non-Sean Payton era. The Saints still have an elite defense, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara. They may like the floor of Tua and his youth to count on him to bring them to the playoffs in the near future.

Dolphins trade Tua to the Steelers for a 2022 first-round pick

The Steelers need an upgrade at QB over Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins in 2022. Mike Tomlin has already stated that he wants an “athletic” QB to join his squad. The former Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, who has been one of the top backup QBs over the past two years, would be an ideal free-agent target for Tomlin. Although, if he falls in love with Tua, he could find a way to pick up the Dolphins athletic QB. Tua could potentially be the long-term QB for the Big Ben-less Steelers.

The Steelers have a slightly worse draft pick than the Saints (20th overall), but the Dolphins could be enticed about sending Tua to the QB-needy Steelers for multiple first-round choices. If the Dolphins don’t want to select a QB with two potential first-round choices, they could use the two first-round picks to attempt to trade for a QB like Kyler Murray or Russell Wilson.

The post Potential trade destinations for Tua Tagovailoa appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Andy Davies

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. Only the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers (both 6) have more Super Bowl wins than the 49ers (5). The 49ers’ five Super Bowls all came between the years of 1981 and 1994. They have lost two since, in the 2012 and 2019 seasons. The quarterbacks that led the 49ers to the Lombardi Trophy were Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young. Three of those five wins saw Montana as the starter and Young as the backup.

Young is seen by many as the best backup quarterback in history, considering the gold jacket that he earned despite many years as the backup to Montana. He would win a Super Bowl as the starter after the franchise moved on from Montana. Ever since Young decided to hang up his cleats, the 49ers have struggled to find his replacement. Have they found the guy in Trey Lance?

Perhaps, but here is why the quarterback situation involving Lance and current starter Jimmy Garoppolo could prevent the 49ers from winning the NFC West during the 2021 season.

Struggles Since Young

Jeff Garcia was the man to come in for Young. During his five seasons in the Bay, he threw for 113 touchdowns and 56 interceptions as well as 16,408 passing yards. He had a 35-36 record as a starter for the 49ers in the regular season and a 1-2 record in the postseason, meaning he never hit the heights of his predecessor.

Alex Smith was the number one overall pick in 2005, shattering Aaron Rodgers’ dreams. However, he was a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. Colin Kaepernick replaced Smith and took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. They ended up losing to the Baltimore Ravens in a game often called the ”˜Blackout Bowl’. Kaepernick failed to live up to the standards he set that season.

He would be kicked out of the league for taking the knee in a protest against police brutality in 2016. He has not played a snap in the NFL since. Jimmy Garoppolo was traded from the Patriots to the 49ers midway through the 2017 season. He gave hope to the organization after winning all five of the games he started in 2017. The fanbase had hope going into the 2018 season.

Many non-49ers fans had San Francisco down as their dark horse for the season. A season-ending injury to Garoppolo in Week 3 saw the starting role shared between Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard. However, the 49ers finished 4-12 as they went into 2019 with the second overall pick. Nick Bosa was selected and transformed the defense of San Francisco and Jimmy G had the best season of his career. He threw for 3,978 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Despite these stats, Garoppolo saw his production limited in the NFC Championship game as the coaching staff decided to use more of their running game. This led to many questions leading to the Super Bowl. The 49ers threw away a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter as they would end up losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 54.

Garoppolo was criticized heavily for an overthrown pass to Emmanuel Sanders that would have given San Francisco back the lead. His 2020 season saw a mixture of poor form and injury. During the 2021 offseason, the 49ers traded up with the Miami Dolphins to gain the number three overall pick. They took Lance with the pick, showcasing their intentions to eventually move off from Garoppolo. There is now talk of whether San Francisco and head coach Kyle Shanahan will start Lance in week one. The other scenarios discussed are either Lance coming in mid-season or sitting out the whole campaign as the backup to Garoppolo. The uncertainty will have a significant impact on the 49ers’ season.

The Strength of the NFC West

This is a problem that will affect all four teams in the best division in the NFL. There is a chance that all four teams can make the playoffs. Los Angeles has an exciting new quarterback in 2009 first overall pick Matthew Stafford. Both the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals have quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray that they would never dream of trading away. Meanwhile, the 49ers’ starting quarterback is largely unpopular by fans, due to a mixture of the overthrown pass in the Super Bowl, his poor 2020 campaign and his injury record.

San Francisco has the least trusted quarterback in the division. With the position being one of the most crucial in all sports, it does not bode well for a team when there is uncertainty in the position. Garoppolo may be benched at some point during the season for Lance. However, the 49ers would be putting a rookie that will still be learning the system into the toughest division in the NFL.

Learning From Mahomes, Jackson, Tua and Burrow

If San Francisco are to help Lance succeed, they will need to take some lessons from recent draft classes. Patrick Mahomes, widely seen as the best quarterback in the league, spent all but one game of his 2017 rookie season as a backup to Alex Smith. The Chiefs then traded Smith the following offseason and Mahomes has never looked back. In his first three full seasons as a starter in the NFL, he has reached two Super Bowls, winning one. He has also been crowned MVP and Super Bowl MVP and reached three successive AFC Championship games. All three have been at home. On the flip side, 2020 first overall pick Joe Burrow started in week one of his rookie year. He wouldn’t last the season, only playing ten games before injury curtailed his first NFL campaign. He was impressive before his injury but there are no guarantees he will be the same player when he returns.

Lamar Jackson was a backup to Joe Flacco during his 2018 rookie year but won the starting role midseason. He has since gone on to win an MVP award and is the future of the franchise. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins brought Tua Tagovailoa in mid-season but he struggled in his rookie season. He is seen to already be on the hot seat, with many feeling the Dolphins rushed him in. These examples all show there are reasons for the 49ers to be hasty when it comes to choosing when to bring Lance into the starting role.

Lance Or Garoppolo In 2021?

The 49ers will have to decide soon who their starter will be in 2021. Considering Lance has only played one full season (2019), he is likely to start the season as the backup. He only threw for a combined total of 31 passing attempts, two touchdowns and 1 interception across the 2018 and 2020 seasons, albeit the latter campaign being disrupted by the pandemic. He is likely to be a work in progress but his 28 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in 2019 mean that he is one for the future.

Garoppolo will likely start in week one but it was clear from the NFC Championship game that Shanahan doesn’t completely trust him.

Jimmy G is a capable quarterback but his health is a concern. Expect Garoppolo to remain as the starter provided the 49ers are winning games but for Lance to come in should Garoppolo either be injured or start the season poorly.

Should this happen, this will be the end of Garoppolo’s time in San Francisco. Depending on timing, he will then be traded either before the deadline or in the 2022 offseason.

Can The 49ers Returning Players Avoid A Repeat Of 2020?

This is key if the 49ers are to challenge for both the NFC West and the NFC. After earning the number one seed and reaching Super Bowl 54 during the 2019 campaign, San Francisco finished 6-10 in 2020 and bottom of the division. A ”˜Super Bowl Hangover’ played its part but the main cause of such a decline was down to a colossal amount of injuries the team suffered. Along with the aforementioned Garoppolo, the 49ers also saw Bosa, Dee Ford, George Kittle, Raheem Mostert, Deebo Samuel and Solomon Thomas miss large chunks of the 2020 season due to injury.

San Francisco had 33 players reported questionable and there were 186 occasions when the 49ers reported a player on injured reserve. They had the second-most injuries of any team in the NFL over the past twenty years. Should all these players come back, then this 49ers roster will be one of the best in the league. This will make life much easier for whoever the San Francisco starting quarterback is.

However, from the strength of the division to the uncertainty at quarterback, San Francisco will find it tough to win the NFC West.

The post Why the QB situation may prevent the 49ers from winning the NFC West appeared first on Pro Football Mania.