Last year, Tua Tagovailoa didn't get a preseason.
Rookie quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert played exceptionally well without a preseason, and that looked bad on Tagovailoa. But he wasn't dealing with a great situation, from an odd offseason to still dealing with a major hip injury he suffered at Alabama.
Some gave up on Tagovailoa after a rookie season in which he wasn't even that terrible. It just wasn't great. The quarterback the Miami Dolphins thought they were getting with the fifth overall pick was on display in Saturday's preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons though.