Former Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert are expected to be the next two quarterbacks off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft after Joe Burrow is selected first overall, but Tagovailoa’s injury history has made him a first-round wildcard.
The coronavirus pandemic forced Tagovailoa to stay at home, and the NFL’s ban on player visits meant that no NFL team was able to perform an up-to-date medical examination prior to the draft. Tagovailoa was widely projected to be a potential third overall pick, but due to the uncertainty in recent weeks, Tagovailoa has been slipping behind Herbert in some mock drafts, including Mel Kiper’s.
Kiper said this week that he no longer expects a team to trade up and take Tua at No. 3, and instead has him going sixth overall to the Chargers. According to ESPN’s Booger McFarland, though, teams would be making a colossal mistake by picking Herbert over Tagovailoa. McFarland argued that despite the injuries, the gap between Tua and Herbert is “astronomical.”
“Tua’s a young guy. He’s going to get hurt. It’s part of the game. Look at all the quarterbacks in the National Football League. They’ve been hurt. They’re gonna get hurt. It’s just about how you recover and can you prevent some of those injuries. And for people to say ‘I’m going to take Justin Herbert over Tua Tagovailoa,’ the gap between those two, to me, is astronomical. It’s like an ocean. Tua is much better at all the things it takes to play the quarterback position.
And I get it. Herbert has the ideal size, he’s big, he’s mobile. But when you talk about being able to lead a team and do what the quarterback requires to be done for your football team – throw it accurately, make good decisions, take care of the football, the ability to anticipate throws – Tua Tagovailoa does that better than almost anyone except Joe Burrow in this draft. And if you’re taking Herbert before him, you’re making a huge mistake.”
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