Welcome back to Hurts Vs. The World. This is part 2 of the series of articles in which I will be comparing Jalen Hurts to other young QBs around the league. For part 2, we have former teammate and now Miami Dolphin, Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins selected Alabama QB, Tua Tagovailoa, with the 5th overall pick in the 2020 draft. In his 2 seasons with Miami he has led them to a 19-14 overall record. Surrounded by pieces like Jaylen Waddle, Devonte Parker, and Mike Gisicki, he hasn’t been put in a bad position. The Dolphins offensive line could use some work, but other than that they have a solid roster. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, they missed out on the playoffs after going 10-6 last season which is almost always a sure playoff record. They again missed out on the playoffs this season with a 9-8 record, which is the same record as the Eagles. It’s no secret that the AFC is harder to play in than the NFC, but the Dolphins were in control of their own destiny and lost. Even so, you still have to feel for them as they should’ve made it at least one of the last two seasons.
With all of that being said, Tua has had a shaky start to his career. He is known as an accurate passer that occasionally has a pretty bad pass. You could say the same for a lot of QBs in the NFL, however they make up for it in production. This season Tua had less than 3,000 total passing yards which makes his completion percentage not look as good. Simply statistically speaking, Jalen Hurts is a much better quarterback.
Jalen Hurts vs. Tua Tagovailoa 2021-22 season:
Tua: 2,781 Tot. Yards, 19 Tot. TD’s, 10 Turnovers, 49.6 QBR
(13 GP)Hurts: 3,928 Tot. Yards, 26 Tot. TD’s, 10 Turnovers, 48.6 QBR
(15 GP)— Hunter Simpson (@HSimpsonNFL) January 29, 2022
This is a scenario in which stats can be very deceiving. I’m not saying I don’t think Hurts is better than Tua because I full heartedly do. There are just certain aspects of Tua’s game that Hurts isn’t on the same level as. In particular I’m talking about accuracy and field vision. Not that Tua is the most accurate QB in the league, it’s just he’s clearly more accurate than Jalen Hurts. These however, are things that Hurts can and will work on over the offseason and throughout the course of his career.
Even though Tua is pretty athletic and can move around, Hurts has him beat by a mile when it comes to their rushing abilities. Jalen Hurts is probably the second best rushing quarterback in the NFL, only behind former MVP, Lamar Jackson. The fact that Hurts can beat you with both his arm and legs is really what gives him the nod. Not only did Hurts have better passing stats than Tagovailoa, he completely outnumbers Tua’s rushing stats. There could be a possible argument for Tua being a better “passer” than Hurts, but there is absolutely no argument that he’s a better overall QB. Even the passer argument wouldn’t be strong as Tua only recorded roughly 2,600 passing yards this season.
It’ll be interesting to see how each of these two play next season. Both the Dolphins and the Eagles should get better in the offseason, so it’s a real possibility that we see both of them in the post-season. As it stands currently, Jalen Hurts is 100% the better QB. That being said, each player has a long career ahead of them, and you never know what might happen.
