Tua Tagovailoa Taking Over at Starting Quarterback for Miami Dolphins in Week 8

With the Dolphins in second place in AFC East, the Alabama product will replace Ryan Fitzpatrick

Tua Tagovailoa Miami Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins warms up prior to a game against the Jets.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images

When the Dolphins return to the field following their bye week, it’ll officially be Tua Time in Miami.

With the 3-3 Dolphins currently in second place in AFC East, Tua Tagovailoa will take over for Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starting quarterback beginning with Miami’s Week 8 home game against the Los Angeles Rams, ESPN reported.

The decision to go with Tagovailoa this early in the season with Miami in contention is somewhat of a curious one, but Dolphins coach Brian Flores apparently feels the rookie will give the team — which has won two consecutive games by a combined score of 67-17 — the best chance to win moving forward.

Tagovailoa will be the 22nd quarterback to start for the Dolphins since Dan Marino retired in 2000.

Fitzpatrick will now shift to the bench to back up the rookie quarterback, a move he has said in the past is fine with him.

Through six games, Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1,535 pass yards and scored 12 total touchdowns.

Tagovailoa’s first NFL start will come 351 days after he suffered a dislocated right hip and posterior wall fracture while playing for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Projected to be the No. 1 pick in the draft prior to getting hurt, Tagovailoa’s draft stock took a hit following the injury and he fell all the way to No. 5.

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