Will Tua Tagovailoa return to Alabama next season instead of opting for the 2020 NFL Draft?
On Saturday, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a terrible hip injury. According to Aaron Suttles of The Athletic, the injury is a “dislocated hip with a posterior wall fracture” and will force him to miss the rest of the college football season.
Tagovailoa has been the likely first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft for a long time. While Joe Burrow and Chase Young have been giving him a run for his money, Tua Tagovailoa was always likely to be the first name called on draft day. Now, that seems incredibly unlikely.
This hip injury is going to be a major concern for NFL teams. Many immediately compared Tagovailoa’s injury to the career-ending hip injury that Bo Jackson suffered in the early 90s.
Dr. David Chao wrote about Tua’s injury on Saturday and he did not paint the most positive picture. There are serious long-term concerns here.
"“Unfortunately, this injury can have long-term implications even without fracture, as the blood flow to the femoral head can be disrupted leading to avascular necrosis where the bone and then cartilage dies out becomes arthritic,” Dr. Chao wrote.“In my career as a head team physician, I treated an NFL player who dislocated his hip in similar fashion,” he continued. “We were able to successfully reduce the hip on the sidelines, and the player returned in eight weeks and even caught a touchdown pass in his second game back, but he did not play after that year.”“We will have to see how this plays out, but this injury will almost certainly affect Tagovailoa’s draft postion and possibly his career.”"
Tua Tagovailoa going down with this injury will have a massive impact on the 2020 NFL Draft. Before, he was the clear top pick in the class. Now, who knows what will happen? I imagine that Tua is still a top half of the first-round selection, but the risk of making him your franchise quarterback is obvious.
More from NFL Draft
- NFL Draft: Ranking the top signal callers of the 2024 NFL QB Class
- Packers’ Lukas Van Ness will make a Lambeau leap into the NFL in 2023
- 2024 NFL Draft: Hunter Haas’ Top 50 Big Board
- NFL preseason Week 3: Notre Dame’s Mayer, Foskey with something to prove
- NFL Draft Notebook: Bo Nix is the third-best quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft
It is certainly possible that this injury causes Tagovailoa’s draft stock to plummet, knocking him completely out of the first round. It would be an absolute shame, but this could be a realistic scenario for the young quarterback.
If this were to happen, would Tua consider returning to Alabama for his senior season? I mean, if he can come back and prove that the hip injury is not a concern and stay on the field all season long, wouldn’t he go right back to the top of the 2021 draft board? At the same time, coming back brings back that continued risk of injury before getting that NFL payday.
It may end up being a difficult decision for Tua. If his draft stock falls off of the cliff, he has to at least consider coming back and re-establishing himself as a premier NFL draft prospect.
I still think Tagovailoa ends up declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft and still ends up being a first-round draft pick. He is obviously a risky selection, but before the injury, Tua was a legitimately elite quarterback prospect who was going to be a star at the next level. His upside at the premier position in football makes him worth the risk.