For months now the talk about “trading for Tua” involving the Detroit Lions moving out of the No. 3 spot in the 2020 NFL Draft has dominated the Lions conversation. Fans desperate to move back have pleaded for other teams to fall in love with Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa in order to foster a trade up to land the dynamic but durability-challenged passer.
It seems those wishes have been dashed on the rocky shoreline of a bitterly cold Lake St. Clair. Many national draft analysts have all but ruled out Tagovailoa as a top-5 pick.
“The big mystery continues to be the fate of Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa. I can’t find anyone who thinks Miami is taking him,” Breer writes for NBC Sports.
He is not alone. The bookmakers at BetMGM and other online wagering sites continue to have Justin Herbert with the best odds to be the second QB off the board. Presumably, that is with the Dolphins at the No. 5 overall pick. Joe Burrow and Chase Young are overwhelming favorites to be the first two picks, and neither the Lions at three nor the Giants at four appear to have any valid interest in selecting any first-round quarterbacks.
If Miami isn’t taking Tua, and no other teams believe Miami is taking him, there is no real point for the Chargers to trade up from No. 6 to No. 3. Any other team looking to make a move to land Tagovailoa is coming from farther back in the draft than Lions GM Bob Quinn has stated he’s comfortable falling.
It doesn’t mean that a trade back for the Lions is dead. Not by any means. But it does mean that fans will need to recalibrate who that potential target might be for a team wanting to move up to Detroit’s pick.
