Star wide receiver Tyreek Hill was sent from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Miami Dolphins in a blockbuster NFL trade in March. Hill goes from having Patrick Mahomes at quarterback in Kansas City to having Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback in Miami.
While that’s quite a drop-off on the surface, Hill is showing a lot of confidence in his new quarterback.
Hill said — on his brand-new podcast — that “accuracy-wise,” he’s taking Tagovailoa over Mahomes “all day.”
“Obviously, like, I’m gonna go with 15 (Mahomes) as the strongest arm, but as far as accuracy-wise, I’m going with Tua all day.”
And more from Hill on the subject:
“I’ve had a chance to see Tua throw the ball, to myself, but… he’s that dude, bro. Like, what a lot of people don’t know, like, I’m not just sitting just saying this because he’s my quarterback now… like, I’m not trying to get more targets right now, but what I’m trying to say is Tua is that deal, bro… Bro, he has a heck of an arm, bro. He’s accurate. He can throw the deep ball, and he actually goes through his reads, where people are like on Twitter like saying, ‘Oh, he doesn’t go through his reads.’ Man, this dude is that dude.”
It’s not the first time this offseason that Hill has spoken glowingly of Tagovailoa’s accuracy, but saying he’d Tagovailoa’s accuracy over Mahomes’ is certainly an eye-opener. And especially when Tagovailoa frankly isn’t even capable of a lot of the throws Mahomes is (downfield, into extremely tight windows, from ridiculous arm angles, etc).
Tagovailoa did have a better completion percentage than Mahomes in 2021, at 67.8% vs 66.3%. But context is important there when considering so many factors, such as throw difficulty and length each quarterback is attempting. According to Pro Football Focus, Mahomes had a 78.3 adjusted completion percentage, while Tagovailoa was 75.3.
Now, regardless of the right answer here, Hill is understandably trying to show belief in his new quarterback, and it’s something that Tagovailoa surely appreciates. Their relationship and production will absolutely crucial to the Dolphins’ success going forward.
Mahomes and Hill annually put together incredible numbers together. In 2021, Hill had 111 receptions (career-high), 1,239 yards receiving, and nine touchdown receptions (and Hill averaged 14 yards per reception four times in Kansas City).
It will be interesting to see if Tagovailoa and Hill can have anywhere close to that level of success in Miami.
