Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa wins Sporting News' Comeback Player of the Year Award
The Miami Dolphins' star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has received heavy criticism from fans and media around the league for the team's sputtering finish to the 2023 season despite putting up Pro Bowl numbers. It appears those accomplishments weren't lost on his peers. On Thursday, the Sporting News revealed their awards for the 2023 season as […]
The Miami Dolphins' star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has received heavy criticism from fans and media around the league for the team's sputtering finish to the 2023 season despite putting up Pro Bowl numbers.
It appears those accomplishments weren't lost on his peers.
On Thursday, the Sporting News revealed their awards for the 2023 season as voted on by players, coaching, and executives around the league. Tagovailoa received the nod for Comeback Player of the Year.
The Sporting News offered the following explanation as to his selection:
All of these players were certainly worthy candidates, but it was Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa who won Sporting News' 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, as voted on by players, coaches, and executives across the NFL.
Tagovailoa tallied 37.3 percent of the vote from around the league in a tightly contested race. Both Hamlin (25.6 percent) and Mayfield (14.9 percent) also garnered considerable support league-wide. Meanwhile, Flacco (1.2 percent) had a solid write-in campaign despite not being included on the initial ballots, which began circulating to NFL teams before he made his first start.
Tagovailoa's victory is indicative of the effort he put in to overcome an injury-riddled 2022 and post high-end passing numbers while leading Miami back to the postseason.
At first glance, it might be a little bit surprising to see a player who played in 13 games and threw for 25 touchdowns to 8 interceptions in 2022 win comeback player of the year.
However, there's little doubt that Tua's head injury caught the attention and concern of many around the league. He suffered a scary concussion against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 29, 2022 that led to him being carted off the field after his head slammed off the turf, just days after appearing to suffer one against the Buffalo Bills that the team classified as a back injury after the game.
Tagovailoa underwent training through Judo to learn how to properly fall during the offseason, as well as added muscle to his frame. Not coincidentally, he completed his first career season where he played in all his team's games.
His play on the field also matched his physical turnaround. He threw for a league high (and career high) 4624 passing yards with 29 touchdowns to 14 interceptions while earning his first Pro Bowl nod. His completion percentage of 69.3% and 560 attempts were both career highs. The Dolphins' offense seemed to largely function at a very high level when healthy – and when not facing the elite teams in the league. The team scored the most points in a game since 1966 in a 70-20 win over the Denver Broncos back on September 24.
Tua and the Dolphins have a long way to go to prove they're among the NFL's best next season. However, it appears that the Dolphins' signal caller has already won the respect of those he's competing against.
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