Tyreek Hill: Tua Tagovailoa is more accurate than Patrick Mahomes
Tyreek Hill has apparently had his apprehensions about playing with Tua Tagovailoa eased.
The star wide receiver – who admittedly had concerns surrounding Tagovailoa's passing ability upon being traded to Miami in March – is now wholly comfortable catching balls from his new compatriot.
"[Tagovailoa's] one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the NFL," Hill told reporters in late May during the Dolphins' voluntary OTAs. "At first, I thought it was going to be something crazy – the ball going all over the place, but Tua actually has probably one of the prettiest balls I've ever caught in my life."
This past week, Hill doubled down on his statements by likening Tagovailoa's accuracy to that of his former quarterback, Patrick Mahomes II.
"I’ve had a chance to see Tua throw the ball, to myself, but … he’s that dude, bro," Hill said on the first episode of his "It Needed To Be Said" podcast. The inaugural episode of the show, released June 10, was called "The Trade."
"Like, what a lot of people don’t know, like, I’m not just saying this because he’s my quarterback now … like, I’m not trying to get more targets right now, but what I’m trying to say is Tua is that deal, bro. … He’s accurate. He can throw the deep ball, and he actually goes through his reads, where people are like on Twitter like saying, ‘Oh, he doesn’t go through his reads.’ Man, this dude is that dude."
Hill's cohost Julian Collins followed by asking him to compare Tagovailoa's arm strength to Mahomes'.
"Obviously, like I’m gonna go with 15 as the strongest arm but as far as accuracy-wise, I’m going with Tua all day," Hill responded.
The "Cheetah" went on to detail some new route trees he's growing accustomed to in The Magic City.
"I love the deep ball, but guess what though? I done expanded my game," Hill said. "So now I’m doing a lot more than just the deep ball now. I’m doing intermediate routes. I’m doing short routes. So now I actually need a guy who can just get me the ball now, on a dagger route, on a corner route, on a shallow cross route. You know, right now, right in my chest. So I can do the rest. I make you look good now."
Hill then referenced a 2019 game in which he shined while Mahomes was sidelined by a knee injury.
"I just want people to understand I went for 150 with Matt Moore as my quarterback," he added. "I love you, Matt Moore. Versus the Minnesota Vikings. If you don’t remember that game, 150 and one touchdown with Matt Moore as my quarterback. And Tua T. is 10 Matt Moores. I love Matt Moore, but Tua T. is 10 Matt Moores."
It remains to be seen whether Hill can replicate the production he sustained last season with Mahomes, but much will certainly be expected from him and Tagovailoa based on these statements.