A CAREER TUA REMEMBER

                 Tua Tagovailoa made an emotional return to Bryant-Denny stadium on Saturday afternoon in what could be his final appearance in front of the Alabama faithful. Entering the field on an injury cart prior to the rout of Western Carolina, the home crowd showed support for their injury-struck leader. Football supporters from all over the country tuned in to events in Starkville, Mississippi two weeks ago as Tua Tagovailoa’s college career potentially came to a nightmare end following yet another injury for the quarterback. The hip injury, supposedly reminiscent of the one that plagued Bo Jackson’s career, required Tua to undergo his second operation of the season. With a little over three minutes remaining until half-time and already 35-7 up Tagovailoa rolled out to the left and threw an incompletion as two Mississippi defenders forced him into the turf, dislocating the Bama Junior’s right hip. Team medics rushed to Tua’s aid in what coach Saban later claimed was to be his last series of the game. After clearing a great deal of blood from Tua’s nose (later discovered to be broken) the medical staff helped him onto the cart and off the field to a standing ovation by all. The Crimson Tide fans may have seen the last of their beloved quarterback but more importantly where does Tagovailoa stand amongst onlooking NFL General Managers and Head Coaches after his third procedure in just eleven months?

            Tua Tagovailoa first caught national attention when he took over from a struggling Jalen Hurts and steered the Crimson Tide to a comeback win over Georgia in the 2018 National Championship. 2^nd and 26 will hold an eternal place in Tuscaloosa history as the play in overtime that saw Tua Tagovailoa unload an unbelievable pass to DeVonta Smith, who burst through the endzone and added yet another national championship to Saban’s dynasty. In just two years as a starter Tagovailoa has staked his claim as the school’s all-time greatest quarterback, ahead of some very familiar names. Super Bowl winning, NFL Hall of Famers such as ‘Broadway’ Joe Namath, Ken Stabler and the late, great Bart Starr. Despite having another year of eligibility remaining Tua already holds the schools single season passing touchdowns and yards records (43 TD’s in 2018 and 3,966 yards the same season) as well as shattering the record for all-time passing TD’s with 87. ‘Tanking for Tua’ gathered moss as the NFL season approached with a majority of football fans anticipating the Miami Dolphins to deliberately butcher their 2019 season in order to land a prestigious, early draft pick they could spend on Tagovailoa. Mentioning Tua by name shows just how valuable the football world viewed the Hawaiian, not just for his collegiate performances but as a pro prospect. As it turns out we’re now no longer looking at either Tua or the Miami Dolphins to be the first announcement by league commissioner Roger Goodell when the 2020 Draft kicks off in Vegas next year. Joe Burrow of LSU looks destined for Cincinnati after his Heisman worthy season up until this point, along with Andy Dalton and Ryan Finley’s poor contribution in the Bengals’ 0-11 campaign of course. Tua was a lock to be selected within at least the first ten picks before the injuries ended his season. Following his successful surgery in Houston on Monday we now have a clearer idea of how the recovery process will play out. Per the SEC Network’s Laura Rutledge, Tua can expect to wait three months before he is able to begin ‘athletic activities’ again whilst he won’t continue throwing a football until the Spring, around the same time as the 2020 NFL Draft. We all know the potential this young man has, his statistics at the University of Alabama speak for itself, but with repeated injury concerns are NFL teams reluctant to take a shot on the fragile QB?

            Let’s go back in time to early September, when Tua was fit, each team had a clean slate and Willie Taggart was still punching in on the daily. Tagovailoa was the number one QB on almost everyone’s draft board, followed in no particular order by his former Bama teammate Jalen Hurts (now at Oklahoma), Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Oregon’s senior Justin Herbert, LSU’s Joe Burrow and Jacob Eason of Washington. It was a no brainer Tua was destined for the first round, top ten, even number one overall according to those buying in to the ‘Tanking for Tua’ theory. There are plenty of NFL teams in the market for a quarterback next season. Miami, Chicago, Cincinnati are all in the hunt for someone to lead their franchise for years to come. The troubling thing for Tua’s draft stock is the other talented football players waiting to declare. You’ve got to have a lot of faith in not only Tua’s potential but his ability to withstand more and more injuries. Not to downplay the standard of the SEC (or college football in general) but under centre and surrounded by a great offensive line Tua has not been put under a great deal of distress in his time in Tuscaloosa yet has still found himself laying in a hospital bed on multiple occasions. What happens when the Aaron Donald’s or Khalil Mack’s of the league get a hold of him? That’s a worry that will be circulating league GM’s as they plan ahead.

            So what are Tua’s options? He can declare for the 2020 draft, most likely drop into the second round and lose out on a significant signing bonus. A top five draft pick (like Tagovailoa was heading into the season) can expect to receive between $19 - $23.5 million signing bonus whilst a second-round pick is looking closer to ‘just’ $3.5 million at the most. Or, go back to the University of Alabama after a summer of recovery and face two more very contrasting possibilities. Tua would either stay fit, make a run at the play-offs, maybe even Heisman trophy and regain his place as a top five/ten draft pick. The alternative, Tua returns to the Crimson Tide and gets hurt for the third season running and seriously distances himself from even being drafted at all. It sounds extremely harsh, but this is the reality of sports, nobody wants damaged goods. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing I want more in football than for Tua to make a full recovery and never have to go through as much as cramp for the remainder of his career, but the 21-year-old is obviously very fragile. Whilst there are two options for Tua to contemplate as he goes through his rehabilitation there is only one correct decision. The risk of returning to school is far greater than to slip a round or two in the upcoming draft. How many 6^th round, 7^th round or undrafted fairy-tale stories do you hear about on a regular basis? Tua has to go this year, get his foot in the door. The signing bonus will be considerably less but if he shows the quality we all know he possesses and stays healthy he won’t have a hard time making big money and a huge difference to one lucky franchise.

            Whatever this incredibly gifted player decides to do regarding his future you can be sure he will give it his all. From his introduction to the collegiate stage in the 2018 National Championship to essentially playing on one leg against LSU in a narrow defeat three weeks ago, no moment is bigger than Tua Tagovailoa. Whether commissioner Goodell addresses the name Tagovailoa first overall or even two-hundredth, this guy is going to go at the league the only way he knows how, one hundred percent.