Is Tua Tagovailoa Bypassing the NFL Draft for Another Year at Alabama?
Is Tua Tagovailoa Bypassing the NFL Draft for Another Year at Alabama?
Tua Tagovailoa Skipping NFL Draft, Returning To Alabama?
Is Tua Tagovailoa skipping the NFL Draft and returning to Alabama?
According to a recent CBS Sports column, the answer is yes.
With the college football season officially nearing its conclusion, programs are beginning to look forward toward what 2020 will hold.
Heading into this past season, it was widely assumed that Tagovailoa would leave the Crimson Tide and enter the pros.
However, a season-ending hip injury versus Mississippi State derailed those plans.
Suddenly, Tagovailoa went from being a guaranteed top-three pick to someone who may or may not go in the first half of the first round.
In a recent column, CBS Sports insider Dennis Dodd discussed why he believes there is a very good chance Tagovailoa returns to Alabama next season.
What if Tua comes back? Admit it, it’s looking more and more like it’s going to happen. https://t.co/kjgCoPgx5U
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) December 23, 2019
“Admit it, it’s looking more and more like it’s going to happen,” he noted in his column.
While it is certainly more likely that Tagovailoa returns now than it was at the beginning of the season, it seems like far from a foregone conclusion.
The logic for why he would suddenly opt to return his clear.
Why go late in the first round and sacrifice millions when you could come back to Alabama, compete for a Heisman and ultimately go at the top of draft like you originally would have?
Then again, there is a flip side to that coin.
What is Tagovailoa gets injured again? What if he doesn’t come back the same player?
Recently, an NFL executive told ESPN writer Dan Graziano wrote that a pro insider confirmed to him that there were questions surrounding Tagovailoa’s durability.
“You love the talent and what he’s accomplished, but there were health concerns,” the insider told him.
“What will the combine medicals show? You’re going to want your own doctors to get a look at him. He comes with a lot of questions right now just because you don’t know when you’ll have him.”
Will Tagovailoa ultimately decide to stay at Alabama one more year? It is impossible to say for certain.
But the likelihood of him doing it is far higher now than it was at the beginning of 2019.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
