Tua Tagovailoa Skipping NFL Draft, Returning To Alabama?
Tua Tagovailoa Skipping NFL Draft, Returning To Alabama?
Tua Tagovailoa Skipping NFL Draft, Returning To Alabama?
Is Tua Tagovailoa skipping the NFL Draft and returning to Alabama?
Coming into this season, Tagovailoa was widely regarded as the best quarterback available in college football.
Over the course of the year the debate shifted slightly as to whether Joe Burrow was better than him, but that was less of a slight on Tagovailoa and more of a credit to how good Burrow looked.
Either way, regardless of whether you ranked Burrow and Tagovailoa, they were clearly Nos. 1 and 2 in terms of passers to be available in the upcoming draft.
Unfortunately, a brutal hip injury two weeks ago ended Tagovailoa’s season, and it left many wondering what his future could look like.
There are multiple reports that even with the injury Tagovailoa is still a guaranteed first round pick. However, he is no longer a consensus top-5 selection like he was before the injury.
Some are now suggesting that it might make sense for Tagovailoa to forego the draft and instead return to Albama for one more year, so he can once again lock up a top draft pick.
It pained me to say this about Tua, but he really has no choice at this point. He has to go back to #Bama! https://t.co/cm6j49SqTS pic.twitter.com/HtLIWVkZvP
— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) November 22, 2019
“It pains me to say this, I think Tua has to go back to school,” ESPN’s Emmanuel Acho said recently.
“And it is monetarily speaking, what does Tua have to lose by going back to school?
If he gets hurt again, he already has the injury notion that he is injury prone but if he goes back and he plays clean, you are talking about 15-plus million dollars guaranteed,” he continued.
“I’m not for college athletes going back typically but in this case, Tua has more to gain by going back.”
Will Tagovailoa ultimately return for one more year? As of now, it seems unlikely. But obvious stranger things have happened in college football.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
