Dolphins 'very comfortable' with Tua's health: 'He was the right guy'

After months of speculation and rumors claiming the Miami Dolphins were interested in other prospects, the franchise selected Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall in the 2020 draft.

At one point, Tagovailoa had been the consensus top prospect in his class, but durability questions arose after a hip injury ended his final college campaign and other previous injuries came to light. But despite reported concerns leading up to the draft, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was prepared to make the former Alabama star his franchise quarterback.

"We're very comfortable," Grier told MMQB's Albert Breer. "Really, it's nothing different. We all know in this game, people get hurt. He's had some injuries that people talk about, but the part that people miss is a couple of the surgeries he had, he was doing it to rush back sooner, to be with his teammates and play. Some people may have elected not to do it, and kind of ride it out. He handled adversity well and showed his mental toughness and his work ethic to come back from those things.

"Our doctors and trainers did an outstanding job, like they do on every player. With him specifically, they did nothing above and beyond of the same thing they do. They checked all the boxes and made sure we were all comfortable and feeling good about it. (Head coach) Brian (Flores), myself, ownership, we were very comfortable with it."

Miami's doctors held a final medical meeting with Tagovailoa on the week of the draft. Afterward, they gave team executives the go-ahead to select him.

While Grier spoke highly of the lefty's on-field talent, he also believes Tagovailoa possesses traits that can't be coached.

"It's how he carried himself," the GM said. "And how everyone talked about him. Our guys did a lot of work on him, going back to high school. We felt like he had a lot of intangibles that we like, that you look for in leaders of programs. We would spend time talking to some of the other Alabama players, and they just raved about him as a person."

Grier added that the Dolphins "just thought he was the right guy."

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