Tag: skills

How Tua Tagovailoa’s play style makes him a unique NFL QB

Former Alabama QB tua tagovailoa is turning heads and earning the respect of coaches and players at 2020 training camp.

Former Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has garnered national attention since his true freshman season on the Crimson tide football team. Whether it was his crazy collegiate debut against Vanderbilt, or his impressive second-half performance in the 2017 National Championship vs. Georgia, there’s always been something special about the Hawaiian-born quarterback.

In his three years under Nick Saban at Alabama, and starting two seasons, Tagovailoa accumulated a career total of 7,442 yards with a completion percentage of 69.3%, 87 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions.

Impressive numbers to go along with an impressive resume that consists of an SEC Championship, College Football National Championship, CFP National Championship MVP, 2018 Heisman finalist and a slew of other awards.

It seems that he’s always had the “It factor,” and that is what the Miami Dolphins are hoping to find in Tagovailoa since drafting him with the No. 5 overall selection in the 2020 NFL draft.

If it were not for his numerous injuries throughout college, he likely would have been a strong contender for the No. 1 overall pick and potentially a Heisman winner. Despite his length injury history, he’s still considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in recent years.

Why?

While there is plenty of criticism surrounding Tagovailoa’s style of play, he has risen up to the top of the ‘hype ladder’ and is now atop many national headlines just by completing passes in practice.

Well, Tagovailoa can definitely throw. It may not be the strongest pass, but an accurate one, nonetheless.

Not only is he a lethal passer, as shown in his career stats with Alabama, but he can run, as well.

His numbers while with the Crimson Tide (107 carries for 340 yards and nine touchdowns) may not show it, but anyone who watched the 44-yard touchdown run from Tagovailoa on an injured knee knows that letting him run free outside the pocket his a dangerous decision.

It appears that Tagovailoa’s ability to escape the pocket and take off has found its way to the NFL during the Dolphins 2020 training camp.

As reported by ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe, Emmanuel Ogbah, an outside linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, who won Super Bowl LIV in 2019 with the Kansas City Chiefs, admits he is hard to bring down outside the pocket.

If you spy on Tagovailoa, he’ll take advantage of it and throw the deep ball, if you don’t keep an eye on him, he’s gone for a decent gain.

That’s not all. Wolfe also reported that Dolphins safety Eric Rowe recognizes growth in Tagovailoa’s skills.

He’s not expected to open the 2020 NFL season as Miami’s starter. but that doesn’t mean we won’t see him this season. There’s growing belief that the Alabama product has surprised many in training camp and could make his starting debut sooner than anticipated.

 

 

Ty Montgomery chose Saints due to their success with versatile playmakers

Ty Montgomery struggled to catch on despite his skills. He’s seen the Saints thrive with Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill, and wants to be next.

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The New Orleans Saints made an interesting free agent pickup last week by signing Ty Montgomery, the wide receiver-turned-running back who rose to prominence with the Green Bay Packers. Montgomery struggled to find his footing in stops with the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, due as much to uncreative playbooks as inexperienced quarterbacks under center like Sam Darnold and then-rookie Lamar Jackson.

He’s hoping to rebound well in New Orleans. Montgomery spoke with local media on a recent conference call, pointing to the success the Saints have found with other position-versatile talents as a major selling-point for him.

“Obviously they have guys like Alvin Kamara, they’ve shown what they can do with guys like him,” Montgomery said. “Taysom Hill, they’ve shown what they can do with guys like him, just other guys as well over the years. Coach Sean Payton and his offense, it’s just sort of been, I guess you could say notorious for putting guys in the best positions to be successful and being very creative on offense.”

Listed at 6-foot-even and 216 pounds, Montgomery has done most of his damage on the ground (with 224 rushing attempts) while running a variety of routes on passing downs (drawing 163 targets as a receiver). He’ll look to expand his portfolio in New Orleans and prove a better candidate to back up Kamara than, say, special teams ace Dwayne Washington or practice squad call-up Taquan Mizzell.

While fans shouldn’t expect Montgomery to push Latavius Murray off the field as the team’s number-two running back, there’s definitely value in having someone with experience on the plays and responsibilities Kamara has perfected in recent years. The Saints lost an element of their playbook when Kamara missed time last year, but Montgomery could be an effective band-aid should the Saints call his No. 88.

But in the meantime, Montgomery is preparing to handle whatever responsibility the Saints have in store for him — up to and including throwing blocks as a fullback so his teammates can get a clear running lane.

Montgomery continued, “I’ve always said I don’t believe I necessarily have to fit into a box. I can sit in a running back room and still do things as a wide receiver, I can sit in the receiver room and still do things as a running back. My ultimate goal’s just to be able to play and help the team in any way I can.”

And he didn’t go into this situation blind; Montgomery noted that he’s spoken with former teammates who spent time in New Orleans like Jimmy Graham, who talked up the Saints offense for its knack of putting players in position to max out their talents. But the proof he needed came from seeing what Hill, a former Packers training camp washout, could do in the right situation.

“Taysom Hill, we were actually in Green Bay together, so I already knew what kind of athlete he was. So to see him thrive, catch balls, run the football, throw the football,” Montgomery said, musing on the system Payton has built. “It’s just a place where anybody can thrive really.”

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