Miami's QB Depth Chart Is a Problem With No Good Answer Right Now

Already wrote the back flare-up note Sunday, so I'll keep this brief: the issue isn't just Tua. It's what's behind him. The depth chart lists Malik Willis and Quinn Ewers as the two options behind Tagovailoa, and neither has done anything in this camp to inspire confidence as a contingency plan. That's not a knock — it's just the situation.

Tua threw for 2,660 yards and 20 touchdowns in 14 games last season, which means he missed three games and Miami still finished 7-10. The offense is built around his timing and his relationship with the skill players around him. Plug in someone else and you're asking a backup to run a system designed for one of the more precise passers in the league, behind a receiver room that already lost Tyreek Hill to a leg injury for most of last year and is now dealing with Hill's "no power" remark heading into this camp.

The depth chart is what it is. Willis is the first option off the bench, Ewers is behind him, and Cam Miller is third. None of those names change the math on what Miami needs from Tua to be functional. My read is that this team can absorb a lot of things going wrong — the defense is stable, Jordyn Brooks is locked in, Achane gives them a genuine ground threat when healthy — but a prolonged Tua absence isn't one of them. The back flare-up is probably precautionary. Probably. That word is doing a lot of work right now.