Plenty of people were pre-writing Tua Tagovailoa’s Miami obituary this offseason.
One more pedestrian year as a starter, they said, before he got demoted or traded in favor of a real franchise quarterback.
They are re-thinking that after three weeks.
The Dolphins are the only undefeated team in the AFC at 3-0, and Tagovailoa has been the heartbeat in making it happen.
After entering the season as a +5000 longshot to win MVP, Tagovailoa has surged up the list of candidates and is now seen as a legitimate threat to claim the hardware.
Tagovailoa leads the NFL in ESPN Total QBR through three games, outpacing Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and the other elite quarterbacks in the NFL. His yards per attempt average of 9.2 is No. 2 in the NFL.
Tagovailoa is tops in football in Adjusted Yards Gained per Pass Attempt at 9.9, which takes into account touchdowns and interceptions, and is among the best in EPA per play.
The Dolphins are a game ahead of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East and currently hold the tiebreaker via Sunday’s head-to-head win.
The Bills are still seen as the Super Bowl favorite and thus remain the favorites to win the division, but Miami is not a longshot to dethrone them.
Miami began the season as an underdog to make the postseason, but is now a heavy favorite to get there. The Dolphins travel to face the Bengals on Thursday Night Football this week.
