What’s the best-case scenario for Tua Tagovailoa this season?

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is looking to enjoy a bounce-back 2025 season after he had a 2024 campaign that didn’t give fans much to write home about. He ended up with his fewest passing yards and touchdowns in a single season since the 2021 campaign.

That was largely because he failed to have great availability for the Dolphins in his fifth NFL season. He was sidelined for six of the 17 games Miami played thanks to head and hip injuries. Tagovailoa injured his head early on in the 2024 campaign in a contest against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 12, and he suffered his hip injury in the Dolphins’ Week 15 loss to the Houston Texans.

With all of that in mind, what will need to happen in order for Tagovailoa to have an ideal sixth NFL season? Here are some boxes that need to be checked in a best-case scenario.

Priority No. 1: Tua stays healthy

Maybe the most important question mark that could determine how the Dolphins fare in the 2025 campaign is Tagovailoa’s health. It’s not as if the 2024 season was his first NFL season dealing with the injury bug. Up to this point, he’s played in more than 13 games in a season just once in his pro career.

But in an ideal scenario, he avoids injuries of all kinds and doesn’t miss a single game for the Dolphins in the 2025 season. He appears in all 17 games for just the second time as a pro and shelves any worries that injuries will shorten his pro career.

Tagovailoa finds a balance between being aggressive and protecting his body, opting to always err on the side of caution, and as a result, he doesn’t pick up another scary head injury.

Because of Tagovailoa’s success staying on the field for the Dolphins after all of the poor injury luck he dealt with in past seasons, the signal-caller ends up in the running for the Comeback Player of the Year award. At the end of the campaign, Dolphins fans are feeling confident that Tagovailoa is the team’s quarterback of the future.

Priority No. 2: Key Dolphins teammates stay healthy

It’s incredibly important to the Dolphins’ season that Tagovailoa’s most lethal weapons on the offensive end can stay healthy as well. His receiving targets and protectors up front need to be on the field for Miami’s offense to be successful.

In this best-case scenario, wide receiver Tyreek Hill looks like his old self again after he underwent wrist surgery this offseason. He racks up 1,500-plus receiving yards across 16 starts in the 2025 campaign and leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns.

Additionally, tight end Darren Waller doesn’t look limited from a physical standpoint after coming out of retirement and plays in 15 games, his most since the 2020 season. Waller proves to be a solid Jonnu Smith replacement and fit next to Tagovailoa, and the 32-year-old ends up with an excess of 600 receiving yards to his name in his maiden campaign as a Dolphin.

Last but not least, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle suits up in 17 games for Miami and gets back to the benchmark of reaching quadruple digits in receiving yards after he totaled a career-low of 744 in the 2024 season.

Priority No. 3: Tagovailoa delivers in big games

As of now, Tagovailoa has a shaky track record of leading the Dolphins to wins in games against top teams. This is a team sport, and he often does his part even in losses, but he’s likely as motivated as anyone to start beating top teams more consistently.

In an ideal scenario, Tagovailoa and company put the kibosh on the notion that they struggle against elite competition with some huge performances against some of the top teams in the NFL in the 2025 season.

Early on in the season — Sept. 18 to be exact — he helps Miami pick up a road win over a Bills team that has had Miami’s number in recent years and throws for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns in that contest.

Fast forward to a matchup against quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 30, and Tagovailoa stars against a top-notch opponent. The Miami quarterback outdoes Jackson and finishes with more touchdowns and yardage than the former MVP in a three-point victory for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins end up with a record above the .500 mark against teams that make the playoffs in the 2025 season in part because of Tagovailoa’s heroics against some of the better teams the league has to offer.

And if the stars align…

Tua has easily the best season of his pro career from an individual standpoint. He ends the season with around 4,800 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns (both career-highs), and the Dolphins end up with a 12-5 record with him spearheading the offensive unit.

The signal-caller also shows an improved knack for taking care of the ball, tying a career-low with just five interceptions despite his high usage.

Hopefully, Tagovailoa’s 2025 campaign looks something like this.