What did “They” Say about Tua?

The NFL Draft is two weeks away and the most polarizing prospect is arguably Alabama's own, Tua Tagovailoa. The Hawaiian quarterback has been the subject of much debate during the pre-draft process and with the draft on the horizon the banter accelerated even more this week.

Tagovailoa was largely viewed as the top prospect in the draft prior to the 2019 season but a devastating hip-injury put all that into question. Analysts and agents from all over the country expressed their opinion about the star quarterback this past week.

• Former Cleveland Browns general manager Mike Lombardi claimed on his podcast that two current general managers designated Tagovailoa with a "failed" physical.
  • Lombardi called the quarterback "brittle" and claimed that the teams who failed Tagovailoa did so because of he broke his wrist twice in college and injured both his ankles in addition to the hip injury.
• Former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum told Dave Hyde of The South Florida Sun Sentinel it would "be irresponsible" for a team to draft Tagovailoa with a top-10 pick
• NFL Draft Analyst Matt Miller, recently admitted that Tagovailoa has fallen on several team's draft boards. Miller says in calls and texts he has received that Tagovailoa has been moved down to QB3 or QB4 in the class.
  • Miller reports that Tagovailoa has been knocked down boards due to the stellar supporting class he played with in college and for poor interviews and predraft meetings.
• ESPN's Stephania Bell reported conversations with Tagovailoa's doctors Lyle Cain and Chip Routt this week.
  • The doctors told Bell that Tagovailoa will be healthy enough to fully participate in NFL Training camp this fall.
  • Noted hip specialist Thomas Byrd told Dr. Cain that Tagovailoa's repaired right hip is actually now stronger than his left hip.
• Trent Dilfer, who has been working with Tagovailoa since high school and in the predraft process, told the media Tagovailoa "throws better than Aaron Rodgers and Dan Marino and any team drafting him would be getting a Hall-of-Fame player."
• Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney recently said, "I'm a Tua fan, I love Tua. I'm on record with that. People can worry about whatever they want to worry about, I wouldn't pass up on Tua. I think he's a big time winner, great person and great teammate."

With less than two weeks until the first round of the NFL Draft, you can be sure more and more people will be giving their two cents on the star Alabama quarterback.

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