MIAMI — Five seasons ago the Los Angeles Rams were the starting block for a turning point in the Miami Dolphins franchise as South Florida’s NFL team ushered in the quarterback of the future.

The Rams were the first opponent Tua Tagovailoa ever started against during his rookie season in 2020.

“A welcome-to-the-NFL moment,” Tagovailoa said, referring to future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Aaron Donald forcing a fumble on his very first drop back pass in that game.

Donald’s swipe at the football produced Tagovailoa’s first professional turnover in a game the Dolphins won 28-17, in afternoon where Tagovailoa was held to just 93 passing yards.

“It was my first pass down. And it was a strip sack,” Tagovailoa remembered this week. “Oh gosh.”

The Dolphins were 3-3 coming out of the bye week, and the franchise’s leadership made a forward-thinking decision to switch quarterbacks from grizzled veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, a team captain, to Tagovailoa, the quarterback Miami selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

For two weeks people inside and outside the organization debated whether the quarterback switch was being made too soon, and if Tagovailoa was ready.

Tagovailoa, a former University of Alabama standout, had the potential to be a huge star, especially in a city that had lacked one since Dwyane Wade’s retirement from the NBA’s Miami Heat.

He was the quarterback Miami supposedly had tanked the 2019 season for, positioning the team to secure a high 2020 draft pick, the passer they chose over Justin Herbert.

Even though FitzMagic was quite popular, and had a hold on the team, the Dolphins decision-makers preferred to invest in the franchise’s future, and that’s why the switch was made.

If Tagovailoa was deemed ready, why wait? And the thought process was that every game invested in Tagovailoa then would speed up his overall development, even if it came with an immediate cost.

“I remember that game for sure,” said pass rusher Emmanuel Ogbah, one of the few remaining holders from that 2020 team. “The growth we’ve seen since then is unreal. He’s our leader now. He’s proven he’s a hard worker who puts his team first. He gives his all every play.”

Outside of Tagovailoa injury history, and the fact he has failed to deliver clutch performances in quite a few critical games, 55 starts later Tagovailoa holds a 33-22 record heading into a critical stretch during Monday’s nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Rams.

He has led Miami to four straight winning seasons, and has two postseason berths on his resume.

But that streak could come to an end soon. At 2-6, Miami’s playoff aspirations — this team’s postseason prospects — can’t survive more than one more loss.

And the reality is, how this season finishes — and what comes with it — will be placed on Tagovailoa’s shoulders.

“He’s trying to be great; he’s not trying to relieve himself of burden or stress. As the quarterback, he looks at it like the stat that is next to his name is the win or loss,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of Tagovailoa, who has a 96.7 passer rating from the four games he’d played in this season. “So when you lose, [he’s about] ‘What could I have done better?’

“As the franchise quarterback, you need him to be that way if you’re going to expect others to be that way.”

And that’s what makes Tagovailoa a tone setter for this franchise.

Even though Tagovailoa and then-coach Brian Flores’ time together would end sadly at the conclusion of the 2021 season, Tagovailoa’s growth and progress in the five seasons that followed has propped this franchise up.

In fact, this season’s struggles in the four-plus games Miami played without Tagovailoa have proven his value.

Last week Tagovailoa threw just three incompletions, going 25 of 28 for 231 yards and two touchdowns in a last-second loss to the Buffalo Bills.

During the past five seasons, Tagovailoa has developed into one of the NFL’s more efficient quarterbacks — delivering a high completion rate, and leading an offense that converts on third downs — but the big plays that were a calling card from the previous two seasons appear to be missing this year.

“We’re continuing to search for consistency,” said quarterback coach Darrell Bevell, who described Tagovailoa as rusty in his first game back against the Arizona Cardinals.

Last week Tagovailoa ironed out some of the issues, and regained the efficient form he has been known for during seasons where he led the NFL in passer rating (2022), and passing yards thrown for (2023).

“We just [have to] continue to find ways. We build on the things that we did good in that game and we continue to find ways to grow,” said Tagovailoa, who completed 80.3% of his passes in two games since his return, contributing 465 passing yards and three touchdowns. “In that sense, find other ways to run maybe similar routes or how I’m sitting in the pocket and how I’m trying to read through progressions and whatnot. So I would say that’s something I’ve been working on.”

The progression continues, and the hope is that when the Tua era does come to its conclusion everyone involved will feel like the franchise hasn’t wasted time, and seasons.

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