By: Brandon Carr
In a time where no sports are on, us sports fans have been trying to find anything to keep us excited. One thing that can get us excited is the NFL Draft. The draft is rapidly approaching and this is a time of year where football fans can look forward to seeing who their favorite football team selects in the draft. We get to see where some of the best junior and senior players from college football land.
One of the most talked about players in this draft has been Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tua in most analyst eyes is the second best quarterback coming out of this class behind LSU’s Joe Burrow. There have been a lot of Tua supporters and a lot of people who are on the fence about this kid. I for one am a Tua supporter.
I have been a fan of this kid ever since he took over for then Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts in the biggest game in all of college football as a freshman. He provided a spark for the Crimson Tide when he entered the game in the second half and threw for 3 touchdowns. One that capped off the Crimson Tide victory with a 41 yard walk off touchdown in overtime to DeVonta Smith to come back down 13 points to win the game 26-23.
I had first heard about Tua when I saw that Alabama recruited a 5 star quarterback from Hawaii. I didn’t make anything out of it because I knew of the history of Alabama quarterbacks under Nick Saban when they made that jump to the NFL. Guys like A.J. McCarron, Jake Coker, Greg McIlroy who all were quarterbacks who won a national championship under Nick Saban didn’t pan out at the next level. None of these guys are even close to Tua Tagovailoa’s level.
After Tua won Nick Saban’s fifth national championship as a head coach, I knew that there would be some quarterback controversy heading into training camp. After Saban named Tua the starter for the first game of the 2018 season against Louisville, Tua went on to have a dominant performance. Tua had 227 passing yards along with 2 passing touchdowns and 1 touchdown on the ground. Nick Saban had seen enough from Tua that game to then name Tua the full time starter over Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season.
From there, Tua would go on to have one of if not the best careers at the University of Alabama. Tua’s next two seasons would see him throw for 6,806 yards, 76 touchdowns, and only 9 interceptions with a 70.2% completion percentage. Tua’s 87 career touchdown passes is the school’s all time record as well as his 69.2% completion percentage (min 300 attempts). Tua also has a record of 22-2 as the starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide. Tua’s numbers are nothing to take lightly and he is in my opinion the best quarterback in the history of Alabama football.
Tua’s success at Alabama is something that scouts and general managers have taken note of, however there is one huge problem that a lot of scouts and general managers have been turned off by. Tua has suffered numerous injuries in his collegiate career. Whether it was the multiple ankle injuries that required offseason surgery or some minor injuries he suffered that caused him to miss little time, he has been injured quite a bit. None of these injuries have proven to be a long term concern until he suffered the biggest injury of his career in a game versus Mississippi State. Tua and the Crimson Tide were up big in the second quarter of the game and with about 3 minutes left in the half, Tua dropped back to pass and scrambled outside of the pocket. From there, Tua was met by two Mississippi State defenders and he was crushed as he threw the ball away. Tua was in clear pain and he was carted off the field shortly after. It was founded out later that Tua had suffered a dislocated hip and he would miss the remainder of the 2019-2020 season.
This was a huge blow for Tua who many thought even with the historic season that Joe Burrow was having, would be the first quarterback selected in the NFL Draft. After this injury, many people began to question Tua’s durability as a pro. This obviously is a huge cause for concern as if a player cannot remain on the field then he holds no value to a football team if he can’t play. Tua’s recovery has gone tremendously well since the injury. Tua himself told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche that, “”I feel 100%, I feel like if there was a game today, I’d be able to go out and perform the same way I was able to perform in previous years. I feel as mobile as possible. I feel 100%.” Tua has posted on social media numerous videos of him throwing the football at a disclosed training facility. What has hurt Tua in this recovery process is that teams are unable to visit him to see first hand how he looks due to the coronavirus. But what we can see from the videos that Tua shared, he looks like he has fully recovered from the injury. There will always be concerns from his doubters if his 6 foot 1, 218 pound frame can hold up at the next level due to these injuries.
Tua throughout the scouting process of the NFL Draft has received a lot of good feedback from analysts concerning his play on the field. A lot of analysts have compared Tua to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Many have called Tua a left handed Drew Brees due to his accuracy, his mechanics, his leadership, competitive nature, and his stature. Being compared to one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time is high praise, but will also come with great expectations as well. Tua has all of the tools to reach that level, it will be just if he can stay on the field which I am confident in his ability to do that.
I truly believe that the sky’s the limit for Tua Tagovailoa. What I saw this kid do throughout his career at Alabama was incredible. I saw him enter the national championship game as a freshman on the biggest stage in college football and deliver. I then saw him single handedly turn Alabama’s traditional ground and pound offense into a high octane passing attack offense with massive production from him and his weapons. The doubters will still say that Tua’s receiving corps is one of the best in college football which helped him a lot. Yes, guys like Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, Devonta Smith, and Jaylen Waddle will help any quarterback. But that is an unfair argument when it comes to other quarterbacks who have also had help. For example, Joe Burrow had the greatest season in college football history, but he still had incredible weapons at his disposal too and no one has knocked him for that. Not every quarterback is going to do incredible things if they don’t have some help, it takes a lot of different components for any quarterback to be successful.
The injury concerns are a real thing to be concerned about, but I saw Tua work his tail off to recover from this serious hip injury to earn more praise from scouts and general managers, and analysts on his recovery.
At the end of the day, Tua will end up going to a good situation. Whether Tua gets drafted by the up and coming Miami Dolphins or the ready to win now Los Angeles Chargers, he will land in a good situation. Tua will most likely redshirt his first season and he will be able to sit behind a solid veteran quarterback like Ryan Fitzpatrick or Tyrod Taylor who can share as much wisdom as possible to Tua. You hear how much Patrick Mahomes gushes about how Alex Smith helped him out when Mahomes was his backup before bursting onto the scene. Having a veteran quarterback in the quarterback room is helpful to any young quarterback.
Tua’s potential is the highest out of any quarterback in this draft and I am confident in saying that Tua will be able to live up to those expectations that people have said about him. Tua Tagovailoa will be someone who we will be talking about for years to come and I cannot wait to see him at the NFL level.
Brandon's Breakdowns 