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Factoid

Tua Tagovailoa

With McDaniel, Tyreek, it's bombs away in Miami

I was impressed with the work Mike McDaniel did in his first year in Miami. With the passing game, anyway. I never would have thought he’d have that kind of success getting the ball downfield for chunk plays.

I understand that the Dolphins added Tyreek Hill. And they’ve got another wide receiver who’s similarly fast, Jaylen Waddle. But Miami doesn’t have a great offensive line, and it has a quarterback who might have the weakest arm of any starter in the league.

Yet, Miami consistently had success getting the ball downfield for long touchdowns. It started with that weird shootout game in Baltimore, with Tua Tagovailoa throwing 6 TDs, and they were able to keep it going all year. Lots of long touchdowns, and they did it with a quarterback who the previous year couldn’t get the ball downfield much at all.

Tagovailoa in 2021 threw 16 touchdowns, and they averaged only 9 yards – the lowest average among quarterbacks with at least 15 TD passes.

AVG DISTANCE OF TD PASSES (2021)
YearPlayerTDAvg
2021Joe Burrow, Cin.3428.4
2021Russell Wilson, Sea.2523.2
2021Davis Mills, Hou.1622.8
2021Taylor Heinicke, Was.2020.5
2021Kyler Murray, Ari.2419.5
2021Jared Goff, Det.1919.2
2021Baker Mayfield, Cle.1718.6
2021Carson Wentz, Ind.2718.3
2021Derek Carr, L.V.2317.3
2021Matthew Stafford, LAR4117.2
2021Kirk Cousins, Min.3317.0
2021Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F.2016.9
2021Justin Herbert, LAC3816.7
2021Lamar Jackson, Balt.1616.3
2021Tom Brady, T.B.4315.1
2021Mac Jones, N.E.2215.1
2021Patrick Mahomes, K.C.3714.9
2021Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt.2214.1
2021Jalen Hurts, Phil.1613.6
2021Josh Allen, Buff.3613.2
2021Dak Prescott, Dall.3713.0
2021Aaron Rodgers, G.B.3712.7
2021Teddy Bridgewater, Den.1812.2
2021Matt Ryan, Atl.2011.8
2021Ryan Tannehill, Ten.2111.3
2021Tua Tagovailoa, Mia.169.0

Tagovailoa in McDaniel’s first season threw 25 TDs, and they averaged over 26 yards – a worst-to-first turnaround.

The Dolphins are in a division with three good pass defenses – Bills, Patriots, Jets. But I imagine they’ll be hitting on plenty of long touchdowns again in the 2023 season.

AVG DISTANCE OF TD PASSES (2022)
YearPlayerTDAvg
2022Tua Tagovailoa, Mia.2526.3
2022Russell Wilson, Den.1624.9
2022Derek Carr, L.V.2423.4
2022Jalen Hurts, Phil.2223.2
2022Andy Dalton, N.O.1821.3
2022Justin Fields, Chi.1720.2
2022Josh Allen, Buff.3520.2
2022Joe Burrow, Cin.3519.8
2022Geno Smith, Sea.3019.6
2022Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F.1617.0
2022Lamar Jackson, Balt.1716.8
2022Marcus Mariota, Atl.1516.7
2022Aaron Rodgers, G.B.2615.6
2022Dak Prescott, Dall.2315.3
2022Daniel Jones, NYG1515.1
2022Justin Herbert, LAC2513.4
2022Kirk Cousins, Min.2913.1
2022Davis Mills, Hou.1712.9
2022Trevor Lawrence, Jac.2512.4
2022Tom Brady, T.B.2512.4
2022Patrick Mahomes, K.C.4112.2
2022Jared Goff, Det.2911.7

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index