Tua Tagovailoa ex- Alabama player, in the course of the past year, was viewed as to be a lock for the number one overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.
It was the Crimson Tide signal-caller burst onto the scene during the 2018 College Football Playoff Championship game as he took over the second half , and led Alabama through a 13-0 loss beat Georgia with a 41-yard score in overtime. As of 2018, the Tagovailoa compiled one of the more productive seasons in the history of college football and completed the ball in 245 passes of 355 (69.0 per cent) for 43 yards and 3,966 yards, with six interceptions. He also added an additional 190 yards of rushing and a score.
A History Created In College Football:
In the beginning of the 2019 season it was an obvious assumption that the team of Tagovailoa was a top quarterback selected during the draft even if not the no. top overall player. This was, at least until Joe Burrow — a second-year player at LSU who was once placed on the Ohio State depth chart -was able to produced one of the most memorable individual seasons in the history of college football.
When Tigers Made History:
Burrow was, in my opinion, the top player on the top team in the country. The 2019 Tigers made history as one of the best college teams ever having gone 15-0 and producing some of the most talented NFL talent available currently.
By doing so, Burrow jumped the NFL’s “Tank for Tua” campaign to become the no. 1 quarterback and player during the selection process. Tagovailoa played as the number. 2 quarterback, as well as the number. 5 player during the selection process.
The quarterbacks will be facing off in the very first game in their careers as NFL adversaries in “Thursday Night Football” The Sporting News looks back on the 2019 college football season and the way Burrow made the leap to Tagovailoa as the most anticipated player for 2020’s NFL Draft:
QBs taken in 2020 NFL Draft
Burrow was ultimately the top. number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, regardless of the position. Although he was regarded as an elite player following his season at LSU and it was a bonus that the team that had the highest selection of the draft the Bengals needed an offensive lineman.
Additionally, Cincinnati was something of the hometown team of Burrow who was born in Athens, Ohio and spent some time supporting the next generation of NFL players at Ohio State. Perhaps it was the most straightforward choice in an NFL draft to the Bengals to pick Burrow and it has been rewarded handsomely over the course of two seasons.
Tagovailoa waited for three other players named three more times -three players namely Chase Young, Jeff Okudah and Andrew Thomas — before hearing his own. Each team, Washington, Detroit and the Giants already had quarterbacks in the form of Alex Smith/Dwayne Havekins, Mathew Stafford and Daniel Jones as well as Daniel Jones.
The team that was first that needed an experienced quarterback after those teams was Miami who chose Tagovailoa ahead of Oregon player Justin Herbert.
| Player | Round | Pick | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Burrow | 1 | 1 | Bengals |
| Tua Tagovailoa | 1 | 5 | Dolphins |
| Justin Herbert | 1 | 6 | Chargers |
| Jordan Love | 1 | 26 | Packers |
| Jalen Hurts | 2 | 53 | Eagles |
| Jacob Eason | 4 | 122 | Colts |
| James Morgan | 4 | 125 | Jets |
| Jake Fromm | 5 | 167 | Bills |
| Jake Luton | 6 | 189 | Jaguars |
| Cole McDonald | 6 | 224 | Titans |
| Ben DiNucci | 7 | 231 | Cowboys |
| Tommy Stevens | 7 | 240 | Saints |
| Nate Stanley | 7 | 244 | Vikings |
Joe Burrow 2019 stats
It’s impossible to understate the dominant season that Burrow’s had been for LSU. The quarterback completed 402 passes of (76.3 per cent) for 5,671 yards of passing and 60 touchdowns, minus six interceptions. He also added 369 yards of rushing and five touchdowns to make it one of the best individual seasons ever.
Burrow was assisted by a team considered by The Sporting News to be the third-best team of all time that included 14 NFL draft selections in 2020, which included first-rounders like K’Lavon Chaisson Justin Jefferson, Patrick Queen and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The majority of the players made it through of the initial three rounds.
Of course, that isn’t including future first-round picks like Ja’Marr Chase and the Biletnikoff winner of 2019 or Derek Stingley Jr., probably the best cornerback in the nation during the college season of 2019. Both were the top five picks in both 2021 and 2022 NFL drafts, respectively.
However, Burrow did not have one bad game for the Tigers in the year 2019, consistently taking down the defenses of opponents (including the defenses of seven teams in the top 10).
Battle of The Champs:
In a battle against Tagovailoa against Tagovailoa Alabama in the rare normal-season Game of the Century, Burrow completed 31 of 39 passes, resulting in Three touchdowns and 393 yards in what was a victory of 46-41 for the Tigers which was their first victory game since 2011.
Here is his passing game log from that season, which included only one game with one passing touchdown, one game with less than 70 percent completion and a 22-0 touchdown-interception ratio in the last five games:
| Opponent | Completion-Attempts (Pct.) | Yards | TDS-INTs |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs. Georgia Southern | 23-27 (85.2) | 278 | 5-0 |
| at No. 9 Texas | 31-39 (79.5) | 471 | 4-1 |
| vs. Northwestern State | 21-24 (87.5) | 373 | 2-1 |
| at Vanderbilt | 25-34 (73.5) | 398 | 6-0 |
| vs. Utah State | 27-38 (71.1) | 344 | 5-1 |
| vs. No. 7 Florida | 21-24 (87.5) | 293 | 3-0 |
| at Mississippi State | 25-32 (78.1) | 327 | 4-0 |
| vs. No. 9 Auburn | 32-42 (76.2) | 321 | 1-1 |
| at No. 2 Alabama | 31-39 (79.5) | 393 | 3-0 |
| at Ole Miss | 32-42 (76.2) | 489 | 5-2 |
| vs. Arkansas | 23-28 (82.1) | 327 | 3-0 |
| vs. Texas A&M | 32-29 (71.9) | 352 | 3-0 |
| vs. No. 4 Georgia | 28-37 (73.7) | 349 | 4-0 |
| vs. No. 4 Oklahoma | 29-38 (74.4) | 493 | 7-0 |
| vs. No. 3 Clemson | 31-49 (63.3) | 433 | 5-0 |
Tua Tagovailoa 2019 stats
Tagovailoa’s campaign wasn’t as successful like Burrow experienced during the year, but he was an elite player, even without a full-season. In all, he completed 180 passes out of his 252 passes (71.4 percent) for 2840 yards and 33 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He also scored two touchdowns on the rushing route.
Similar to Burrow Tagovailoa also had some of the most talented offensive players available to throw to like DeVonta, Jaylen Waddle Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III and the running back Najee Harris.
Here’s his passing game report for the year 2019 The log did not contain one interception till the sixth game, and was cut off after nine games of the 2019 season.
| Opponent | Completion-Attempts (Pct.) | Yards | TDS-INTs |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs. Duke | 26-31 (83.9) | 336 | 4-0 |
| vs. New Mexico State | 16-24 (66.7) | 227 | 3-0 |
| at South Carolina | 28-36 (77.8) | 444 | 5-0 |
| vs. Southern Miss | 17-21 (81.0) | 293 | 5-0 |
| vs. Ole Miss | 26-36 (72.2) | 418 | 6-0 |
| at No. 24 Texas A&M | 21-34 (61.8) | 293 | 4-1 |
| vs. Tennessee | 11-12 (91.7) | 155 | 0-1 |
| vs. No. 1 LSU | 21-40 (52.5) | 418 | 4-1 |
| at Mississippi State | 14-18 (77.8) | 256 | 2-0 |
Tua Tagovailoa injury history
Burrow has earned himself the status of the top. one overall selection in his 2020 draft however Tagovailoa’s situation was certainly not assisted by a noteworthy injury record at Alabama — which included the devastating hip injury which ended his college career.
They are:
Broken left index finger (March 2018)
Left knee strain (October 2018)
Injury to the left quad (November 2018)
Ailment to the right ankle (December 2018)
Right ankle strain (October 2019)
Dislocated hip and postural wall fracture (November 2019)
Prior to the sprain of his right ankle in 2019, Tagovailoa not missed a single game due to an injury, aside from the rest of the game at times. After the injury, Tagovailoa was out for one week of play (and one week off) until he returned to LSU.
In the following game, Tagovailoa sustained an extremely dislocated hip/posterior thigh fracture during the game against Mississippi State, the latter of which corresponds more to the aftermath of a car crash rather than a football-related injury. This created a long-term timeline for the recovery of Tagovailoa and has extended in the duration of his NFL career.
The injury also eliminated any doubts that Burrow was likely to be the number. one overall selection of the 2021 NFL Draft. It’s not just it’s the Tiger signal-callers’ remarkable last season as LSU.