The Miami Dolphins flashed through the mind of a prominent South Florida athlete. While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Miami Heat are currently the hot professional sports teams in Florida, Dwyane Wade has another team in mind as an up-and-coming franchise that could grab the headlines very, very soon.

Long-time NBA superstar and recently-retired player Dwayne Wade, who played for the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers across 16 seasons in the NBA, knows everything about what it takes to be a part of something special in the state of Florida. And while the Buccaneers now have added Tom Brady to the mix and taken a lot of the tabloids and headlines away from other teams in the state, Wade believes that another NFL franchise located in the Sunshine State could become the frontrunner for most talked about team in the state.

“If the Dolphins get it going, it's going to be Dolphins town,” Wade said. “We did as much to make it a basketball town as possible, and Miami Heat is there to stay. But let's not get it twisted: Florida is football. Once they get their s— together, they are going to be big and bigger. But those Heat guys — Bam [Adebayo], Tyler Herro — are going to battle him for it. He's got to earn it.”

In that quote from Wade, the ‘he’ in the final sentence refers to the most important player on the roster for the Miami Dolphins – quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Seen as one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft, the southpaw former Alabama Crimson Tide National Championship winner is joining a roster that has a ton of potential. How much that team improves rests solely on his shoulders.

Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen will not hand over the keys all that easily to Tagovailoa, but teams do not spend top-10 picks on a QB that will not be given a fair shake to start right out of the gate. The Dolphins can't think small.

Would it smart for Tagovailoa to start Week 1? Not necessarily, as it could potentially stunt his growth and not give him ample time to learn under the guidance of an NFL coaching staff for the first time, but then again, what do the Dolphins have to lose at this point?