Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa announced Monday he’s forgoing his senior season with the Crimson Tide to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. Once considered a formality, there was doubt whether Tagovailoa would leave Alabama for professional football after suffering a season-ending fractured hip against Mississippi State.
The November injury is expected to keep Tagovailoa out of action for at least six months, but he remains one of the top quarterbacks in the draft and is still expected to be among the top 15 overall picks.
USA TODAY’s most recent mock draft projects him going No. 5 overall to the Miami Dolphins.
Tagovailoa was one of the nation’s top recruits coming out of high school in Honolulu.
He made an immediate impact as a freshman at Alabama in 2017 when he relieved starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second half of the College Football Playoff’s championship game against Georgia and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime.
In 2018, he threw 43 touchdown passes in leading Alabama to another national championship game and finished second to Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
This past season, he completed 71.4% of his passes with 33 touchdowns and only three interceptions through nine games. But in a game against Mississippi State in mid-November, he suffered a dislocated hip and a concussion that ended his season.
Another Tagovailoa could be behind center for Alabama next season, however. Tua’s brother Taulia will compete with Mac Jones for the starting job. Jones finished the season after Tua Tagovailoa’s injury, losing to Auburn in the Iron Bowl and beating Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
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