2020 NFL Draft: Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa scouting report
By Ian Higgins
Arm Talent
Tagovailoa has been incorporated into an offensive system that thrives in getting the ball into the hands of their playmakers short of the first down marker and letting them go to work. As mentioned previously, the area of the field between -3 and 15 yards from the line of scrimmage is where Tagovailoa has had to place the ball.
This lack of downfield production causes concern at the next level, but with the growing popularity of the short passing game through screens and RPO’s, passing has become an extension of the running game, grinding away defenses snap by snap.
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Tagovailoa’s mechanics have given him the ability to get the ball into tight windows within this Alabama offensive “sweet spot,” from a quick “turn & burn” release on screens to darts thrown into tight windows. A singular problem that plagues numerous quarterbacks within both college and the professional level is the lack of footwork on their front foot (ex: Jimmy Garoppolo).
A quarterback needs to be rotating this front foot to their target in the windup to allow their hips to come through the ball, and Tagovailoa does a great job of that to produce throws with enough ball velocity to fit into tight windows and reach the boundary.
One concern regarding this footwork though is when pressure is coming in his face. Tagovailoa has had a tendency to get “happy-feet,” shorten his base, and underthrow balls when defenders are coming downhill through the interior.
Pass rushers from the outside (a more common threat at the professional level) have given Tagovailoa less trouble, but confidence and stature in the pocket will become an issue if consistent pressure behind a porous offensive line gets into his head.
Tagovailoa may also be able to produce even more ball velocity by getting his stance slightly more narrow. With a slight adjustment to the positioning of his backfoot, Tagovailoa would add enough ball velocity to become reliable on tight throws up to 25 yards downfield. This shortened base allows not only more hip rotation but a faster rotation.
When timing Tagovailoa’s release frame-by-frame, from bringing the ball down to his hip at the beginning of his wind up all the way to the ball being out of hand, Tagovailoa was time at ~0.417 seconds (10 frames). This is by no means slow but could get faster with a handful of minor tweaks to his throwing mechanics. Elite quarterbacks with lightning-fast releases (ex: Tom Brady) normally come in at ~0.3 seconds (8 frames).