Former Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa hoped that he would be able to prove to NFL teams at his Pro Day that he’s healthy enough to be considered a franchise quarterback prospect, but the coronavirus outbreak has made his crucial pre-draft period even more complicated, and the current NFL ban on player visits could threaten his draft stock.
Tagovailoa underwent surgery in November after suffering a dislocated hip and a posterior wall fracture during a game against Mississippi State. Tagovailoa was unable to participate in drills at the NFL Combine, but was reportedly cleared for football activity earlier this month.
Unfortunately for Tua, NFL restrictions on travel mean that interested teams won’t be able to give him a medical examination prior to the draft – which is a serious roadblock for a player returning from a major injury.
ESPN’s Laura Rutledge joined Get Up on Friday and explained how Tagovailoa will try to give teams as much information about his condition as he can given the circumstances.
“Tua’s pro day was supposed to be April 9th, and then he would have gone to those combine re-checks on April 10th in Indianapolis. Obviously that is not going to happen now, but they will still do the MRI they were planning to do on April 10th anyway, it’ll just most likely happen in Birmingham, Alabama, or somewhere around those parts. Maybe even in Nashville. Either way, that scan will still happen, and right now, just under these current times, they will have to take that MRI and send it in a huge file…. to all of the doctors that are associated with the teams that could be interested in Tua.”
“The other part of this as well is that Tua’s camp right now is working on some sort of video that they would be able to give out to these teams showing him throwing, showing him doing the exercises that people would want to see otherwise. And really trying to replicate what these teams would be doing if they were able to see Tua in person.”