The NFL draft’s most interesting storyline may be that of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. At this time last year, many expected him to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Just a few months ago, some wondered whether he might go second behind Joe Burrow, the presumptive No. 1 pick. Now, we’re left to wonder if Tagovailoa will fall down the draft board — and how far.
The Miami Dolphins seem like a likely landing spot at fifth or 18th overall. The Los Angeles Chargers could grab him at sixth-overall, the Jaguars could draft him at ninth-overall and the Las Vegas Raiders could take him at Nos. 12 or 19. At some point, however, the quarterback-needy Patriots could consider trading up from 23rd overall to take Tagovailoa, who came up in an Alabama program which Bill Belichick has long respected.
ESPN’s draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. thinks the Patriots will be in play.
“It’s going to be the million dollar question,” Kiper said Friday during an appearance on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” show, as transcribed by Ryan Hannable. “That’s the whole intrigue and the element of the draft that you just can’t figure is these types of things. You hear people, and I know everyone is screaming that Tua has to go high, you have to take that risk. And then you hear people in the league saying he could fall and everybody is doing their due diligence, including the Patriots. You can rest assured, if he gets into the middle of the first round and you’re sitting there at No. 23, wouldn’t you jump up and maybe get him? You know the connection with Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. And I know how Nick feels about Tua.
“If you go from Tom Brady to Tua, a healthy Tua. Now, that is the thing — can you keep him healthy? People say, ‘Well, everybody gets hurt.’ Quarterbacks don’t get hurt. Brady had the one injury when (Matt) Cassel came in. (Dan) Marino had the Achilles one year. Most of these quarterbacks, Eli (Manning) played forever, (Philip) Rivers, (John) Elway, (Jim) Kelly, when do these guys get hurt? The quarterbacks, when do they get hurt? This guy has had significant injuries, so to me, if he starts slipping a little bit, sliding down, where it happened with Aaron Rodgers not that long ago, and he was projected to be No. 1 two weeks before that draft and he went in the 20s, yes, if it did happen, I would think New England would be aggressive to try and go up and get him.”
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