What’s the shelf life on a “generational” quarterback these days?

When the Miami Dolphins drafted Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft less than nine months ago he was touted as the missing link, that “generational” quarterback who could become a lot of what they hadn’t had at the position since Dan Marino hung up his cleats.

So, after waiting 20 years for a successor to Marino, we’re supposed to believe that they might be considering drafting Tagovailoa’s replacement after a mere 10 games?

Heck, a lot of people there can’t even pronounce his last name yet and there is already talk of turning the page.

The buzz surrounding the Dolphins after the 56-26 season-ending pummeling by Buffalo Sunday was whether Miami should invest its top pick, the third overall selection, in the 2021 draft, in another quarterback — Justin Fields or Zach Wilson — or stick with Tagovailoa.

That’s pretty shortsighted, even more so than the dink and dump passing attack that Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey saddled Tagovailoa with for most of Sunday’s game.

It was, to be sure, the worst performance — 35-of-58 passing, 361 yards, three interceptions, including a pick-six and one touchdown — of Tagovailoa’s brief career. This after he had authored just two interceptions in his previous eight starts despite playing behind a largely rookie offensive line.

But as head coach Brian Flores pointed out, Tagovailoa didn’t have a whole lot of help, either, on a day when Dolphins receivers dropped 11 passes. “We didn’t play well as a team. We didn’t coach it well, we didn’t play well. I’m not going to sit here and put it on one player. It’s a team effort,” Flores said. “We could have blocked it better. … There’s a lot of things (involved) here. And that includes Tua. He’s got to play better. But everyone’s part of that. He’s played well during the course of the season. We as a team have played well. But we didn’t have it today.”

For the season, Tagovailoa completed 64% of his passes with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Not bad for somebody who a year ago at this time was coming off an injury so devastating that some folks expected him to watch the season from the bench.

But not enough when compared with the presumptive rookie of the year, Justin Herbert, who threw 31 TD passes for the Chargers and was chosen one place after Tagovailoa in the draft.

Asked whether he expected to be the Dolphins’ starter in 2021, Tagovailoa said, “I don’t have control over any of those things. I think all I can do is continue to grow and continue to get better. All offseason, get with a good amount of the guys and see what we can do from there, going into next year.”

There are reasons the Dolphins ranked 22nd in rushing and 22nd in total offense and not all of them had to do with Tagovailoa.

The Dolphins, who have a four-year, $30.2 million contractual investment in Tagovailoa, would be well served to use their two first-round picks and four selections in the top 50 to bolster the talent they array around him and get an offensive coordinator who can bring out the best in Tagovailoa. Somebody who believes in him for starters.

The Dolphins could glance at the opposite sideline and see how Buffalo’s patience paid off with Josh Allen, the quarterback who dropped three touchdowns on them Sunday.

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