In 2026, the Miami Dolphins will have a new starting quarterback in the season opener for the first time since the 2020 season, when Ryan Fitzpatrick started over a rookie Tua Tagovailoa.
Later in the 2020 season, Miami would replace Fitzpatrick with Tagovailoa, who the team had selected with the fifth overall pick in that year’s draft. While the team has started different quarterbacks since then, primarily due to Tagovailoa’s injuries, this will mark the first time since he was drafted that the team is trying to build around a different quarterback.
And despite Tagovailoa’s play dropping off dramatically in the 2025 season, he is still expected to start with the Atlanta Falcons, who signed him to a one-year contract after the Dolphins released him. Unfortunately for the former Miami quarterback, one analyst does not believe his Atlanta tenure will be a turnaround for his career.
Former Miami Dolphins Quarterback Called Out
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons discussed the Miami Dolphins’ former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on his podcast, where he referenced the Falcons being in the worst quarterback situation in the NFL. Regarding Tagovailoa, Simmons said, “Tua just shouldn’t be in the NFL anymore. I don’t understand how first of all he’s a starter and second, why he even wants to play. Like, it’s over.”
Meanwhile, The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero added regarding Tagovailoa, “This is part of why I think Mike McDaniel, as much as he became a meme at times, especially because of who he is, his personality and all that stuff, did anybody have more of a tough role over the last couple of years than a guy who every gameplan had to start with “the quarterback can’t get hit, not sacked, we can’t let him get hit.” and I know he does the jiu-jitsu and he’s learned all these different things, but like that’s an uphill climb.”
While Pelissero does make some valid points regarding the difficult challenge McDaniel faced during his Dolphins tenure, it does feel important to add that he went 4-9 as the head coach in games Tagovailoa did not play. With Tagovailoa, McDaniel had a 31-24 record over a four-year stretch.
Tua Tagovailoa’s Future in Atlanta
Unfortunately, despite the success that the pairing of Tagovailoa and McDaniel had in their first three seasons, the 2025 season was a downturn for them. Miami went 6-8 with Tagovailoa as the starter, which led to McDaniel benching him in favor of seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers. After the season, the Dolphins moved on from both McDaniel and Tagovailoa.
Now, with Tagovailoa on the Falcons, FanSided’s Shayne Kubas wrote for the Phinsider that Atlanta head coach Kevin Stefanski is learning what Dolphins fans already knew. Kubas wrote: “Tua is too limited to be a successful starter in the NFL at this point. I think Stefanski knows that he can’t rely on Tagovailoa to play consistent, winning football at this stage of his career, and he is hoping that he can at least try and develop Penix into someone who could.
I won’t pretend to know what is really going through Stefanski’s head, but the fact that he isn’t willing to name Tua the starter with Penix still on the mend is hard to view as anything other than an indictment on the Dolphins’ former fifth overall pick.”
Ex-Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa Called Out After Preseason: ‘Shouldn’t Be in the NFL’