So much time is spent talking about what a quarterback can do.

Is he a pocket quarterback?

Is he mobile?

Can he throw the ball a country mile?

All these are valid questions, however, the more important questions are what are his limitations? Even the best quarterbacks have limitations.

Much has been made of Tua Tagovailoa’s limitations as the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins. He doesn’t have the strongest arm and clearly this year he has been struggling with injuries, namely multiple concussions. That is not to say that he cannot be a very effective quarterback, but those limitations have to be considered.

He is not the only young quarterback with glaring limitations. Both Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Arizona’s Kyler Murray come to mind. They are what I like to refer to as shiny. Both young men are tremendous athletes, but as I’ve written before being a great athlete does not make you a great quarterback. Both quarterbacks will continue to put up highlight reel plays. Their very real limitations in playing the position of quarterback is what’s going to hold them both back from truly being great.

A quarterback has so many elements to play the position at an elite level. Very rarely will you ever see someone that has all those pieces together. Teams simply have to decide if they feel they can work around whatever limitations their quarterback may have.