New England Patriots: 3 Dolphins players to keep an eye on in Week 1

Miami Dolphins player to watch No. 1: Tua Tagovailoa

It’s amazing to think about how this could be a make-or-break season for Tua Tagovailoa. Despite it being just his second season in the pros, Tagovailoa struggled with consistency last season, and it reportedly led Miami to sniff around the quarterback market. They ended up standing pat for now, but their willingness to explore the market shows they aren’t necessarily committed to Tagovailoa in the future.

It’s only fitting that Tagovailoa would be the most important piece of Miami’s offense in this game, and probably the rest of the season as well. Whereas New England has built their offense around the run game to help their young quarterback, Miami went out and got Tagovailoa more options to help improve the passing game. We already mentioned Waddle, but Miami also added Will Fuller V in free agency, although he will miss this game as he finishes serving a suspension.

Miami is clearly depending on Tagovailoa to take a step forward this season, and he will get his first chance to prove he’s the man for the job against a tough New England Patriots defense. Tagovailoa beat the Pats in his first matchup against them last season, although he wasn’t necessarily fantastic passing the ball. He will face a tougher challenge this time around.

The Patriots reloaded at pretty much every position on defense this offseason, and have the potential to make Tagovailoa’s Sunday afternoon miserable. Whether Tagovailoa shows up or not will determine whether this game is close or whether this game is a laugher.

Tagovailoa has shown fleeting spurts of his potential throughout his limited time as Miami’s starter, and when he’s in his groove he’s dangerous. With new weapons at his disposal, he is well-equipped to be able to take the next step in his development this season. If Tagovailoa gets going, things could end up going poorly for the New England Patriots in this one.