Who Should I Start? Tua Tagovailoa or Tyler Shough

Tuesday, June 10, 6:17 PM

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is prioritizing his health in 2025 and also said that the hip injury that ended his season in Week 17 of last year started to "feel a little better" in February and won't be an issue going forward. "Doing everything I can to stay available for the guys," Tagovailoa said after signing a four-year, $212.1 million contract extension. The third diagnosed concussion of his career sidelined him for four games last year before he was shut down for the final two games with a hip injury. In addition to the 27-year-old's missed time due to injuries in 2024, Miami's offense was less explosive in general, and Tagovailoa finished with 2,867 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and seven picks in 11 starts. He still has an excellent receiver combo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but Tagovailoa's concussion history makes him an avoidable fantasy QB in standard 12-team leagues.

Thursday, June 26, 2:37 PM

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough was selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and veteran signal-caller Derek Carr (shoulder) announced his retirement shortly after. This leaves Shough as the favorite to win the QB1 job in his rookie season, though he is competing with sophomore Spencer Rattler. After a long college football career full of adversity, Shough is ready for the growing pains and downs of his first year in the NFL. "I think for me and what I've been through: I've been carted off the field, I've been booed, I've been an MVP, I've been a starter, I've been a backup to [Justin] Herbert," Shough said. "You're not going to faze me if we start off 0-2 or I suck. It's going to be fine." The former Oregon Duck, Texas Tech Red Raider, and Louisville Cardinal acknowledge that while he's an older first-year player, he's still a rookie who will have to learn. Even if Shough pans out, he likely won't be a fantasy football contributor in single-QB leagues this season since he does not have much of a rushing skill set. That said, he could be a QB2 sleeper for Superflex and two-QB leagues while throwing passes to Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Alvin Kamara, Juwan Johnson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.