Tua Tagovailoa’s draft stock will probably be impacted by his hip injury, but it sounds like he still has a very good chance to go in the top 15, at the very least.
Three NFL evaluators told Matt Zenitz and Mike Rodak of al.com that they would still expect Tagovailoa to go in the top half of the first round, and possibly still in the top ten.
“Right now, I’d still say top-15 for him,” one scout said. “Every year, you have 15 blue-chip players, and he’s one of them.”
“Let’s just say he did fall out of the top-five or top-10,” another longtime NFL evaluator said. “I think there would be a pretty big scramble to take him, even if you had to redshirt him next year. … May not go top two or three just because there’s uncertainty there and some reservations with all the injuries. But, like Miami and ‘Tanking for Tua,’ they’ve won a couple games and are going to be picking third or fourth probably. Would he get past a team like that? I don’t know.”
Tagovailoa’s prognosis is excellent, and based on his timetable, it’s at least possible he can play next season. The long-term concerns will linger, but ultimately, there’s enough talent here that someone will take the risk — probably fairly early on.
