Some splits I put together watching the film.

Tua Tagovailoa No Huddle:
32 of 41 for 344 yards, 0 TD and 0 INT, 102 rating
2 sacks for -19 yards

Tua Tagovailoa Empty Backfield:
34 of 42 for 281 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT, 102 rating
5 sacks for -16 yards

@3YardsPerCarry
Tua came out of college as, to paraphrase Trent Dilfer, the best Four Verts QB college football had ever seen.

Shouldn't surprise anyone how good he is operating from empty backfield. What's funny is 3 of the 8 incompletions were drops, and the sacks weren't really bad ones.
On drives where the Tua goes into No Huddle and/or Empty, unless there's a turnover, two-thirds of those drives end successfully with points.

But it's the opposite on drives where he's never allowed to go No Huddle or Empty. Two-thirds of those end in punts.
If there's one thing I take, having watched all of Tua's and Fitzpatrick's snaps, focusing on formations and setups, I honestly think there's too much play-action in Tua's play calls. It slows him down. He works better when he's got eyes on the defense from the snap.
That's something sticks out about the play calling from Week 8 onward when Fitzpatrick is back on the field (i.e. the Broncos, Jets, and Raiders games). There aren't as many play-fakes. People are right noticing Gailey is more pass-aggressive with Fitzpatrick than he is Tua.
If there's one difference between Tua and Fitzpatrick when it comes to going No Huddle or Empty, it's that Fitzpatrick has a tendency to not take the sack.

But at the same time Tua completes over 80% of his attempts when he's operating out of No Huddle or Empty. I mean, come on!
I think there's a little bit of balance to be struck. I understand all the play-fakes as Tua is a gifted RPO quarterback. But there is such thing as going overboard on that, especially given the lack of tools around him. Play-fakes slow him down. He thrives on being sped up.

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More from @ckparrot

28 Dec
Today seems to be the day everyone's penning their Miami quarterback situation columns.

I've been tweeting a lot about different aspects of Miami's QB/OC situation. So let's try and put it all together.

@3YardsPerCarry @5ReasonsSports
Let's start with some facts.

When allowed to go Empty Backfield, about 90% of passes Tua throws hit an open receiver right on the hands. We're talking 34 of 42 complete with 3 drops, a little over 8 yards per completion. It comes out quickly, accurately, and SAFELY (no INTs).
He's got 5 sacks out of Empty. But that doesn't bother me. Look at the sacks. He makes guys miss, keeps his eyes up, gets back toward the line. Four of those sacks, total loss was -8 yards. One of them, Carl Nassib stunted inside and went untouched straight into Tua's face.
Read 21 tweets
27 Dec
On several of Chan Gailey's Q&A sessions he's stated when he retired, he threw away his notes on defensive coaches; that he's relying on assistants to tell him tendencies of e.g. Rod Marinelli. I wonder what role that's playing in all of this. @3YardsPerCarry @5ReasonsSports
Gailey also separately said what happened in the Broncos game is Fangio did things they hadn't prepared Tua for, and Chan took the blame for that.

During pre-game warmups in Vegas, the sideline reporter noted Miami seemed anxious, not knowing what Marinelli's approach would be.
Tua is a rookie. He hasn't seen a lot of things in the NFL. Fitzpatrick & Gailey have. Perhaps when the game prep is sufficient, Tua goes out there and nails it. But when it's not, they need to rely on the shared experience of Fitz & Gailey to make mid-game adjustments.
Read 6 tweets

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