Hot take: Wilson should start. I know everyone is surprised I'd say that. Offense looked way better with Wilson than with Tua.
OMG no. Like seriously no. This team is toast if Tua goes down. There's a reason Wilson has a career 73.2 rating, and that's with 993 attempts, not just a few games. Yes he's had a few rare "good" games, but don't be fooled by them. The guy is statistically crap.
Last night's game is the reason I stated in the other thread that the starters SHOULD have played last night. It doesn't matter how good you are at a particular task, be it athletic or non-athletic, if you haven't "said" task in 7 months, you're not going to be as sharp as you were when you were doing it all of the time 7 months ago. Hell, when I take a week off from work, it takes me a few days before I'm back to form, let alone being a professional football player on a team with 52 other players. Check that, with 90+ other players, having to split all of that playing time to determine who's staying and who's going. I was glad that McDaniel sent the starting offense back out on the field for a 3rd series. Message being, get it right! Once they did, then it was time to send in the 2nd stringers. And speaking of starters? Jackson, Hill, Achane, Wright, Ingold, J Hill...6 starters that didn't play. Offensively, I still have concerns...major concerns about the OL. That's going to be what makes or breaks the offense. Savaiinaea is going to be a fantastic guard, but it's quite certain he's going to experience some growing pains along the way until he's established. Paul is certainly establishing himself as the anchor on the left side of the line. The question though is the right side of the line...Tua's blind side. Can Jackson return to form before he was injured last season? who is going to step up and be that effective RG? Can the line effectively block for Achane, Wright and Gordon? That's going to determine the offense's success. Defensively, I'm surprisingly over-confident about the starting defense, even with the question marks in the secondary. That front 7 is shutting down runs and getting lights out pressure on quarterbacks. Weaver's done a fantastic job thus far on defense. Let's hope it keeps up.
You think the offense didn't look better under Wilson last night? I'm not saying Wilson is good, btw. It's just not a good look that the offense looked worse under Tua.
It's preseason. Preseason play is not a good predictor of regular season play. Regular season play however IS a good predictor of regular season play, and we've seen Tua excel at that for sustained periods, albeit also fail when it counted most. Wilson fails almost all the time and only excels in rare instances. That's a far better predictor of what would happen if you put Wilson in as starting QB.
Bro Stop it. We've had this conversation EVERY FREAKING PRESEASON. Everyone says, "Oh it's just preseason blah blah blah." Great. It's still preseason for our opponents who seem to do better than us. Then comes the regular season, and all the problems from preseason are still there, and no says a thing. Enough. If the team looks off or bad in the preseason, it's just a spectre of things to come.
Also "regular season play is a good predictor of regular season play" is possibly the dumbest most meaningless thing I've ever read from you. In tomorrow's news, a cancer test that shows cancer is the best predictor of cancer.
Why don't you stop with the nonsense of suggesting Wilson should be the starter? You want the Dolphins to lose? Because that's what you're asking for saying we should start Wilson as QB. It's not dumb when the person I'm talking to can't even comprehend something that basic to then suggest Wilson should start over Tua. Wilson is trash in the regular season. Only if you want the Dolphins to lose would you seriously suggest starting him over Tua. UTTERLY DUMB!
From a guy on Twitter: "OTAs: “Don’t panic, it’s just OTAs.” Training Camp: “Don’t panic, it’s just training camp.” Joint Practice: “Don’t panic, it’s just joint practice.” Preseason: “Don’t panic, it’s just preseason.” Lose to Colts: “Don’t panic, it’s just Week 1.” Lose to Bills: “Don’t panic, we always lose to the Bills.” In the Hunt: “Don’t panic, we can get hot at the end.” BOOM, 9-8: “Don’t panic, there’s always next season…” And the cycle continues!" At least some people see it. I honestly don't believe Tua is the magic. I think any good QB that doesn't have his deficiencies could excel in this offense. I didn't say anything about whether Wilson was better, I specifically clarified that it's an indictment on Tua that the offense was better under Wilson.
Just to clarify some things. 1. I am not optimistic about this season, mostly because I haven't seen McDaniel adapt while others have adapted to him, and I doubt the defense can hold up facing good passers with quick releases (our CB situation is not good). Vegas agrees, putting us at around 8.5 wins (depends on site of course). 2. Preseason stats have near to no correlation to regular season stats. That's just a statistical fact. So it doesn't matter whether Wilson looks good preseason or Tua looks bad preseason. And you can find all kinds of examples, like Aaron Rodgers posting a 53.8 in 2012 preseason going on to post a 108.0 in regular season, or Sam Darnold posting a 116.0 in 2021 preseason only to post a 71.9 in regular season. Statistically it just doesn't matter. 3. Season 4 is a no excuse season for me. If they don't make the playoffs, I want McD replaced no matter the record or perceived strength of the team (playoff win is all that matters for me this year). And if McD is replaced, it's up to the next HC to decide what to do with Tua, but I would bet any new HC will keep Tua given how difficult it is to find a comparable replacement, unless of course Tua does poorly this year. My biggest concern is McD.
Wilson did look better. . Tua looked like the same small, inept, immobile, no pocket presence, short, safe throwing QB against the Jag’s scrubs. At least Wilson was able to get the ball downfield and make some plays.
