Tua admits it’d be tough to pass up being high pick
Tua Tagovailoa said being assured he’d likely remain a high NFL draft pick could make “the biggest decision of my life” a little easier.
The Alabama quarterback is still weighing his options and going through rehab for the right hip injury that ended his junior season — and potentially his career with the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide. Once regarded as a potential No. 1 overall pick, Tagovailoa said Thursday that if he feels he’ll still be a Top 10 or 15 pick, that might be too tempting to stick around.
“I think that’d be tough to pass up,” he said, sitting in a chair where the podium normally rests during Alabama news conferences. “But I think there’s a lot more to it than that in some aspects.”
Tagovailoa stopped there, saying he wants to have that conversation with his family not reporters.
He walked into the room on crutches, sporting dinosaur- covered red pajama pants, saying it looked “like a ( Nick) Saban press conference” before doing an impression of his coach.
In between the quips, he discussed his uncertain future and the big decision of whether to stay in Tuscaloosa or enter the draft.
Tagovailoa was injured when he was dragged down by two Mississippi State defenders on Nov. 16. He had surgery two days later in Houston.
The quarterback doesn’t have a timeline on when he will make that decision, saying it could come right before the Jan. 20 deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft.
“This is probably going to be the biggest decision of my life,” Tagovailoa said. “At the end of the day, the decision comes down to me, whether I feel like it’s right for me to stay or whether it’s right for me to go.”
In the meantime, he started the rehab process in Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday and is getting treatment at Alabama’s athletic facilities while back in class. He said the medical staff was surprised at how well he did pushing against resistance with his right leg.
“What the doctors have said is they expect a full recovery, that I’d be able to go out there and play football again at 100%,” Tagovailoa said. “I just won’t be able to rotate it internally the same way.” LEACH GETS 1-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION » Washington State coach Mike Leach has agreed in principle to a oneyear contract extension that could keep him at the school through the 2024 season. Leach is in his eighth season at Washington State and has led the Cougars to a school-record five consecutive bowl games. TENNESSEE’S JENNINGS FACES FIRSTHALF BOWL SUSPENSION » Tennessee wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who stepped on the face of a Vanderbilt punt returner during Saturday’s game, has been suspended by the SEC for the first half of the Volunteers’ upcoming bowl game, league commissioner Greg Sankey announced.