NFL Week 6 thread: Godspeed, Sneeze Achiu

I guess they have to play him sometime, to justify their investment and to see what he can do. But it's pretty obvious they have given up on this season, because Fitz was playing pretty well.

 

I actually think the opposite - If you want to go roughly .500 or a shade under, you play Fitz. He has a pretty well-established level of play at this point, and it's just OK. Teams eventually figure out his shit. Playing Tua injects some variance in at least - maybe he's not ready, but maybe he's pretty good right away, and gets you past eight wins. If they sucked, I think the Dolphins would be fine with just benching him and learning for the year.

 

The problem with promoting Tua right now is that now Miami can't go back. If he struggles, they can't say, OK, Fitz, you go back in, because it's a terrible downer for everyone in the franchise, especially Tua. The only way it can be reversed is even worse, if Tua gets hurt again. Flores seems to be a good coach, but this is IMO an unnecessary risk.

 

What's the goal though? If it's to make the playoffs, then Fitz probably isn't getting it done. The Dolphins losses have come against the Bills, Patriots and Seahawks, while the wins have come against the Jags, the Jets and the 49ers with a gimpy Jimmy G. They've got the Rams and Cardinals coming out - Why wait for Fitz to go 0-2 in those games?

 

Because your team is not of playoff caliber in the rest of the roster. It needs time to grow and meld together. When it's more advanced, THEN Tua comes in. Give him the best possible chance of success from the beginning. Also, the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality is very strong within NFL teams and NFL fans. Let Fitz revert to his mean, THEN Tua comes in. Making the playoffs at 9-7 or finishing 7-9 doesn't really mean a thing to the Dolphins. The idea is working towards the club that goes deep into the playoffs in 2022.

 

The Miami situation strikes me as very unique in the NFL, in that no one is under the assumption that Fitz is anything more than a placeholder and a mentor for Tua, with the goal of them eventually switching roles. That includes Fitz, who seems very happy to play that role at this stage of his career. He's not a former star trying to hang on to a job as long as he can and hold the younger guy down, with the illusion that he'll parlay it into one last big contract. He's very aware of what his job is.
Given that dynamic, could the Dolphins be able to do another odd thing and go back and forth between the two if necessary? Let Tua get some first-team game reps. If and when he struggles, pull him aside and coach him up for a series or even a week for as long as the team is contending for a playoff spot. Use the rest of the season to play and teach.
I agree with you that it's not conventional NFL wisdom to put the rookie in and then pull him. Dwayne Haskins, for example, is certainly finished in Washington after he was benched. But I think Miami might be a weird situation where they could make it work.

 

I think that might work, but it's most unconventional and would require complete buy-in to the idea from Fitz, Tua, the whole team and most of all the coaching staff. Coaches instinctively see QB changes as a break glass in emergency move. That amount of flexibility will be tough to instill in creatures of habit.

 

Very true. Coming at a weird time like this, though, where the Dolphins are coming off of two good wins and look like they could make a run at a wild-card spot, it doesn't feel like it's a panic move. For all of the crap they've taken, the Dolphins have definitely had a plan the last two seasons while doing some unconventional things.

 

Long season. Has Tom Brady destroyed his cell phone yet?

 

I suppose, but Tua is mobile, and Fitz isn't as much. I think this is an unconventional move, because the NFL is pretty conservative by nature - most teams, I think they'd let Fitz lose a couple games, putting them into a precarious position or out of the playoffs anyway, before going to Tua. If Flores is making this change now, it makes me think that Tua might be the better QB anyway, and even if Flores isn't sure that Tua is better, I think Fitz is a well-known quantity at this point.