One of the most anticipated players to watch in the 2020 NFL Draft is hands down Tua Tagovailoa. After enduring a season ending hip injury against Mississippi State, all eyes have been on Tua’s recovery, and his road to the pros.
Over the past few months, many NFL mock drafts have been trying to pinpoint exactly where Tua could end up, but no one knows. It seems that it changes weekly, if not daily.
And according to former Cleveland Browns GM and longtime NFL analyst Michael Lombardi, Tua is in a hard situation. On his “GM Shuffle” podcast, Lombardi discusses how sources have shared with him that 2 teams (one in the top 10) have “flunked” Tagovailoa on their pre-draft physical.
According to Lombardi, he was flunked because of his past injuries.
“It’s not just his hip. It’s his ankle. It’s his wrist. He broke his wrist the first day of spring ball one year. … He’s brittle. He is brittle. You can’t deny it.”
Lombardi also shared about high “bust” potential” of NFL quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round of the last 15 NFL Drafts. Some of the quarterbacks he mentioned were Mark Sanchez, Brady Quinn, and Jason Campbell just to name a few.
It’s important to note that Lomabardi is not discrediting Tagovailoa’s skill set or talent, but it’s the injuries that have put a shadow over Tua’s college football career.
“He’s a really good player. I’m not disputing the evaluation. I’m saying that, if you’re picking a quarterback, it’s really hard to pick a good one. It’s even harder with a guy who can’t stay healthy. That’s my point. Two teams I’ve talked to have flunked him. They flunked him on not just the hip, but on the multitude of injuries. The risk far outweighs the reward.”
Earlier this week, Tagovailoa sat down with NFL’s Steve Wyche and shared how ready he is:
Wyche: That goes to show who you are, Tua, to start this off like this, and that’s what we continue to hear, just how genuine you are. But that’s kind of a given. What’s not given is your medical status. Do you feel like you were before you got hurt?
Tua: “Oh, I feel 100 percent. I feel like if there was a game today, I’d be able to go out there and perform.”
Wyche: So, if you had to go into a minicamp, you could go right in there and be ready to compete?
Tua: “I feel as normal as possible, so yes.”
For the season, Tagovailoa threw for 2,840 yards, 33 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
In his career at Alabama, Tagovailoa racked up 7,442 yards passing, 87 TDs, and 11 INTs.
The NFL Draft will take place from April 23-25th.
Roll Tide Wire will keep you up to date on the very latest.