If Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, why not Tua Tagovailoa?

If the number one and six picks in April’s NFL Draft can acquit themselves as starting quarterbacks as rookies, why not the most intriguing prospect of them all in the 2020 class?

Maybe that’s what the Miami Dolphins have been asking themselves these last couple of weeks watching Herbert perform for the Los Angeles Chargers and Burrow for the Cincinnati Bengals while Tagovailoa grew before their eyes in practice.

Because plenty of people, not just those chanting “Tua … Tua … Tua” in South Florida, sure have been wondering how much longer Tagovailoa, who was chosen one pick ahead of Herbert and four back of Burrow, was going to have to serve his bench apprenticeship before seeing meaningful playing time.

Or, perhaps, after watching Tagovailoa continue to make major strides in practice, the Dolphins came to a consensus realization that with an open week before their Nov. 1 game it finally had to be Tua time in Miami. Time to see not only what they might have in the long term, but get a glimpse of where someone considered a generational talent might take the 3-3 Dolphins this season.

Either way, the Saint Louis School graduate who has managed to master the moment in his high school and college careers, finally gets to step up on the NFL stage that has seemingly been calling him since he came off the bench to deliver Alabama’s 2017 national championship.

A proper coming out, too, not the blink and you miss it appearance in the waning seconds like last week’s two-pass debut against the forlorn New York Jets, either. But two weeks to prepare for a start against Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams.

OK, that can be a little daunting, especially when ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky points out that, as a left-hander, Tagovailoa’s blind side will be protected by two other rookies on the offensive line.

The biggest question that has hung over Tagovailoa since he was carried off the field at Mississippi State on Nov. 16 was about his health, not his talents. The dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture that closed his college career and the doubts that surrounded it were all that kept Tagovailoa from being the No. 1 pick, instead of Burrow.

And, despite the medical pronouncements of Tagovailoa’s remarkable recovery, you can understand the Dolphins’ initial hesitation to put him on the field early and why there was speculation about a “redshirt” year of sorts where he would learn by observing the 37-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Due to COVID-19 erasing the exhibition game slate, Tagovailoa didn’t have the benefit of a preseason. But, then, neither did Burrow or Herbert.

As Tagovailoa has blossomed and demonstrated no ill effects from the injury, the curiosity of what he might be capable of has mounted. You thought the Dolphins might get him some significant playing time in the 43-17 thumping of San Francisco a couple of weeks ago.

Whether Miami’s front office had long eyed this open date to raise the curtain on their $30.28 million investment or just came to the conclusion that Tagovailoa deserved a shot at making his own highlights instead of being Fitzpatrick’s cheerleader, Tua’s time has come.

And, maybe, given all he’s done to get to this point, that really shouldn’t be a surprise.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.