Chargers-Dolphins preview: Tua Tagovailoa presents big challenge for L.A.
The seven-on-seven camps happened almost every weekend, Hawaiian kids converging on a football field to push one another.
As a budding lineman, Breiden Fehoko recalls doing one-on-one drills before going over to watch the skill-position players battle.
“I remember a younger, shorter kid throwing to high schoolers,” Fehoko said. “Come to find out, it was Tua. It was pretty cool really. You knew the kid was going to be good one day.”
One day has arrived for Tua Tagovailoa. The NFL’s highest-rated passer will lead the Miami Dolphins into SoFi Stadium on Sunday to face Fehoko and a Chargers’ defense that figures to be shorthanded for a tall task.
With safety Derwin James Jr. (quadriceps) and slot cornerback Bryce Callahan (core muscle) doubtful, the Chargers’ secondary still must contain Tagovailoa and speedy wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Miami leads the league in yards per passing attempt (8.11) and is second in passing yards per game (290.5). Only Kansas City has averaged more yards per play.
The Chargers, with a mostly healthy James and Callahan through the first 12 games, ranked 31st in opposition yards per play, a fact that strongly suggests Sunday could be stressful for the home team.
The numbers also mean the Chargers’ offense and quarterback Justin Herbert likely will be forced to boost the production. Center Corey Linsley (concussion) and receiver Mike Williams (ankle) are set to return, which will help.
The promising matchup of Herbert versus Tagovailoa prompted the NFL and NBC to move this game to Sunday night. Herbert was the No. 6 pick in the 2020 draft, taken one spot after Tagovailoa.
The two will be forever linked because of their draft position, the connection growing stronger this season with Tagovailoa’s improved play now challenging the things Herbert has accomplished during the fast start to his pro career.
“I’m going to state the obvious,” Fehoko said, “but, you know, two young prime-time quarterbacks, taken high in the same draft, what more could you ask for, right?”
Growing up in Hawaii, Fehoko played against Tagovailoa in high school as well as youth football. Later, they’d meet in college, Fehoko at LSU and Tagovailoa at Alabama.
As kids, they both were part of a program that Fehoko said was called “The Big Boys League.”
“It was,” he explained, “pretty much, if you were over weight for Pop Warner, you had to play there.”
Tagovailoa was a “Big Boy” because, while growing up, he typically played against older, larger kids. The age and size difference mattered little, Fehoko said, once the ball was snapped.
“Tua’s dad was always adamant about him competing with guys older than him,” Fehoko said. “He was always trying to strive for more. That’s how I’ll remember Tua, a kid trying to stick his nose in with the older guys.
“He was always one of those young prodigies in Hawaii — a young, middle school kid going to high school camps. It was kind of the ‘it’ thing in Hawaii. That’s how he started making his name.”
Though his production hadn’t matched Herbert’s through their first two NFL seasons, Tagovailoa’s teams have had more success. Miami is 8-2 in games he has started this season and 14-3 going back to November of last year.
Tagovailoa is 21-10 as a starter, compared to 21-23 for Herbert. In their only previous meeting, the Dolphins beat the Chargers in Miami 29-21 in November 2020.
Since the beginning of that season, the only quarterbacks with better records than Tagovailoa are Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers.
His passer rating this season — 112 — is on pace to break Dan Marino’s franchise single-season record. Tagovailoa also leads the league in passer rating in the fourth quarter, the red zone and on third down.
How impactful has he been in 2022? Until this week, a Dolphins team never had been flexed into a Sunday night game since the NFL introduced the concept in 2006.
“He’s playing fast,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said of Tagovailoa. “I think you’re seeing quick decision-making. They’ve really surrounded him with a lot of weapons. They’ve really crafted an offense that plays to his strengths.”
The Dolphins (8-4) won five in a row before losing last weekend at San Francisco. The Chargers (6-6) have lost three of four and sit one game behind the New York Jets for the AFC’s final playoff spot.
Staying alive for them likely means winning at least four of their final five games. And winning Sunday likely means Herbert outdueling Tagovailoa in a prime-time showcase set up to determine who’s the bigger of the big boys.
“You get both of them on this stage and they’re both playing well,” Fehoko said, “90% of America might tune in to this game just because of those two. I’m excited to watch them.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
