Power college trio heads to NFL draft
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor will forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL draft.
Once considered a formality he would forgo his senior season, there was doubt whether Tagovailoa would leave Alabama after suffering a seasonending 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 Sports’ most recent mock draft projects him going No. 5 overall to the Miami Dolphins.
Tagovailoa becomes the fifth of Alabama’s loaded junior class to opt to leave early for the NFL, following recent defections by receiver Jerry Jeudy, safety Xavier McKinney and right tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. Redshirt junior outside linebacker Terrell Lewis also elected to leave early for the NFL when he chose not to play in the Citrus Bowl following the conclusion of the regular season last month.
Tagovailoa 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.
Tagovailoa leaves as one of the most prolific passers in Alabama program history having already reset the standard for what it means to be a Crimson Tide quarterback. Along with his 22-2 record in less than two full seasons as Alabama’s starter, Tagovailoa’s 7,442 career passing yards rank third all time in school annals.
He ranks No. 1 in school history in other categories, including career completion percentage (69.3) and career touchdowns (87 – 10 more than AJ McCarron’s previous record total), while also ranking No. 1 with 96 total touchdowns in his career. Tagovailoa also established a new standard for passing excellence in a season over the past two years, ranking first and second in program history with 43 and 33 touchdown passes in 2018 and 2019 while also breaking the single-season yardage mark with 4,156 total yards (averaging a school-record 277.1 yards per game) after throwing for a program-record 3,966 yards in 2018.
Young starred as the Buckeyes’ top pass rusher during their return to the College Football Playoff, finishing with 161⁄2 sacks to set the single-season school record.
Few players were more productive over their college careers than Young, who compiled 301⁄2 sacks in three seasons, second most on Ohio State’s alltime list, behind Mike Vrabel, who had 36 sacks from 1993 to 1996.
Most analysts expect Young to be taken near the top of the draft, with the Cincinnati Bengals holding the No. 1 overall pick, followed by the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions.
If Young were taken by the
Redskins, it would mark a homecoming. He grew up in the Washington suburbs in Maryland.
Young offers similarly imposing size, listed as 6-5 and 265 pounds by Ohio State last season, with gifted athleticism and a quick burst at the line of scrimmage.
His first step allowed him to overwhelm quarterbacks in some of the Buckeyes’ biggest wins in 2019, tying a school record with four sacks against Wisconsin and tallying three against Penn State later in the season.
His 21 tackles behind the line of scrimmage were also the fourth most in a season in Ohio State program history.
As he swarmed opponents, Young secured his share of postseason hardware. He was a unanimous All-American selection and also captured the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy,
two of the top honors given to the nation’s best defensive player.
But his recognition as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy most captured the scope of his onfield dominance.
Taylor, a two-time winner of the Doak Walker Award, announced he is giving up his final season of eligibility and will enter the 2020 NFL draft.
The decision should surprise no one as UW officials expected Taylor to leave for the pros.
“I’ve been able to live out a dream over the last three years by being a Badger, and now I’m excited to dive in and chase another dream of playing in the NFL,” Taylor said. “I made it my goal to help raise the bar here, and thanks to my teammates, my coaches and everyone that supports us, I feel like we’ve been able to do that.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and I’ll cherish the bonds that we’ve built. We’re a family, and I’ll always be a Badger.”
Taylor rushed 21 times for 94 yards in UW’s 28-27 loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl. That performance pushed his season rushing total to 2,003 yards, making Taylor the first UW back to rush for at least 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
He rushed for 1,977 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman, added 2,194 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore and added 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior.
That left Taylor with 6,174 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns in three seasons.
Some of the FBS records set by Taylor:
❚ Rushing yards by a freshman: 1,977.
❚ Rushing yards by a sophomore: 2,194.
❚ Rushing yards by a player through his sophomore season: 4,171.
❚ Rushing yards by a player through his junior season: 6,174.
❚ Rushing yards in any twoyear span: 4,197.
❚ Rushing yards in any threeyear span: 6,174.