2020 NFL Draft: Justin Herbert goes No. 1 in first-round NFL mock draft

Tua Tagovailoa’s injury has seriously diminished his draft capital. His injury is serious enough that his rehab will almost certainly run into training camp and potentially into the 2020 season. That is a gracious estimate, because really, as of this writing, we have no idea if Tua will ever play again.

The injury is serious enough to consider hanging up his cleats and resting on his college accomplishments. No one would blame him and he would go down as one of the greatest to ever play for the Crimson Tide.

By the 2020 NFL draft, however, I am assuming in this mock that he will have let prospective teams know he is interested in coming back to football once he has properly healed. I am also assuming his heal time will be a year or more, meaning he would be on the bench for the first year of his career. Not many teams have the patience to wait that long for a quarterback, without knowing he will return to his original form once he is back.

But the New Orleans Saints have what might be the most complete team in the entire NFL. They have an incredible running back, elite receivers, a great defensive line, a good corner. If the Saints pass on Tua, expect them to take a cornerback, because that is the only position that they are lacking in.

But with Drew Brees entering what will most likely be the last years of his career, and Teddy Bridgewater almost certainly peacing out for a starting job somewhere else after this season, I could see a scenario where the Saints are willing to let an incredibly high upside quarterback take a year to recover.

During this time, their hall of fame quarterback would play until they decided to part ways. Or if Brees leaves after this season, keep Bridgewater for another year to tutor Tua, and make a run at a Super Bowl. Or put Taysom Hill in for a year. At this point in the 2020 NFL draft, there aren’t going to be a ton of options available anyway at quarterback.

Some might say this is a stretch, far-fetched or unlikely. But just remember when they signed Drew Brees from the Chargers. People said the same thing back then. And they won a Super Bowl off of that far-fetched idea.

The Saints coaches and front office are some of the most imaginative movers and shakers in the NFL. They make roster moves all the time that perplex and bewilder more cynical football circles. Not every move works out for them. Drafting Tua with a plan for rehab him for a year might not work, and will almost certainly strain a team that has drafted late or missed the first round entirely the last few years.

But New Orleans, like everyone, watched Tua play the last three years. The kid is special. He is one of many quarterbacks coming out of college these days who have the skills to start for an NFL team day one.

With quarterback camps across the country and football training becoming all year long for some kids, college quarterbacks are coming out of college throwing with anticipation, know how to read a defense, and have the internal clock to survive a collapsing pocket when they need to. Considering this team is built to compete for the foreseeable future, I don’t see why the Saints couldn’t make this move.

Tua is a special quarterback. No one knows what he will look like once he is fully recovered. But if there is even just a chance he might return to his college form, isn’t that worth a first-round pick? In the 2020 NFL draft, several teams will be selecting their quarterback of the future. While Tua may never play again, it’s worth a look at him with a late first-round pick.