Tua Tagovailoa to make first career start against the Rams

This team belongs to Tua Tagovailoa. After Miami shutout the Jets in week 6, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to make a change.

The 3-3 Dolphins host the 5-2 Rams on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Tagovailoa to face Rams first

Coach Flores has announced that @Tua will be the starting quarterback. #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/kxVqpwZPLY

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) October 21, 2020

Few things are scarier to an NFL quarterback than Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The All-Pro has a knack for getting to the quarterback. Through seven games, Donald is second in the league with eight sacks.

Tagovailoa could have a rough debut if his line can’t control Donald. In the secondary, he will have to be aware of Ramsey’s whereabouts. The star-corner has had a quiet season statistically, but that is one of the few positions where that can be considered a good thing.

Luckily for Tagovailoa, he has a had bye-week to prepare for this matchup and the help of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, while shocked to be benched after leading the Dolphins to a 3-3 record, is all in on helping the new quarterback

Here’s what Tagovailoa had to say about the veteran’s mentorship.

Dolphins Pre-Fitzpatrick Mentorship

Can Tagovailoa follow the other rookies’ leads?

The Rookie of the Year race is heating up 👀

♨️ Burrow: 2,144 Total yards, 12 Total TDs
♨️ Herbert: 1,663 Total yards, 14 Total TDs pic.twitter.com/aIORpGrI6S

— ESPN (@espn) October 26, 2020

Joe Burrow is currently on pace to break the rookie passing yards record. The Bengals’ first overall pick has fans excited for the future.

Justin Herbert has thrown more 50-yard touchdowns (4) this season than any quarterback in the league. His big-play highlights have the league wondering why he fell to the sixth overall pick.

While those two have excelled, Dolphins fans have been waiting for Tagovailoa to make similar impact. This Sunday he will get the chance. However, expecting him to find immediate success like the other quarterbacks may be setting fans up for disappointment. Rookies are supposed to struggle, it’s how they learn, grow and improve that matters.

McVay preparing for the rookie

Two more days til gameday 😈#FridayFeeling x @Bose pic.twitter.com/rJJOT2KM10

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 30, 2020

Rams’ head coach Sean McVay is one of the brightest minds in football. He understands that the Dolphins are going to trot out a rookie with only two pass attempts in the pros. Tagovailoa is also a lefty, the only starting lefty in the NFL right now.

When McVay was asked about preparing for a lefty quarterback, he had this to say:

McVay’s belief makes sense. The defense still has to cover every area of the field regardless of the quarterback. However, a lot changes for the offense.

The right tackle is now in charge of protecting the blindside, while the receivers have to get used to catching a ball spinning the opposite way.