ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have strong and differing opinions on the prospects for Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Kiper suggested on Wednesday that he heard rumblings from the Miami Dolphins that the team may be more interested in Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert at No. 5 overall. That is, in large part, because of medical concerns surrounding Tagovailoa, who dealt with ankle and hip injuries. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, NFL teams have had limited medical access to prospects and, therefore, have less information about how these injuries might impact a player’s NFL career.
McShay, however, is not hearing bad things about Tagvailoa’s draft stock.
“I can’t ignore Justin Herbert’s tape. I would much rather Justin Love out of Utah State. There’s potential — if I have a quarterback coach and a head coach and the opportunity to develop someone — he’s going to be a better quarterback than Justin Herbert in five years,” McShay said on Wednesday on ESPN. “So I would rather take Love than Herbert. But unless it was completely medical (on Tagovailoa) where my staff came to me and said, he’s off the board, then it blows my mind.”
For McShay, it’s a no-brainer. The Dolphins should take the Crimson Tide quarterback, Tagovailoa.
In a recent mock draft, we humored the idea of the Dolphins deciding to trade up to No. 1 overall, where the team drafted LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. The Cincinnati Bengals then fell back to fifth overall, where they took Herbert, in whom they have some interest, according to NBC Sports’ Peter King.
With the jockeying of Burrow, Herbert, Tagovailoa and Love, the NFL draft is shaping up to be a compelling piece of live sports television, something we haven’t had in quite some time. It would be a welcome bit of drama.
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