Alabama QB’S draft stock remains high despite injury
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa isn’t expected to suffer a major drop in draft stock should he leave Alabama after this season following a hip injury, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported.
“I am told that Tua could actually throw for teams before the draft just based on his rehab,” Rapoport said Sunday on NFL Network. “And scouts still expect him to go high in the first round.”
Tagovailoa is out for the NCAA season after suffering a dislocated hip that also broke the wall of his hip socket, which called to mind the injury that ended the football career of Bo Jackson in 1991.
The star running back suffered from avascular necrosis (AVN) in which a lack of blood flow causes the bone tissue to die.
Sources told Rapoport there’s a “very, very slim chance of AVN” with Tagovailoa, who has not announced his plans for next season.
The 21-year-old Tagovailoa had been considered a potential No. 1 overall pick — or at least the first quarterback selected — before the injury.
“He may not be the top-three pick he was slated to be before the injury, but the fall from the ailment is not expected to be catastrophic — pending the results of his medical evaluations,” Rapoport wrote on Nfl.com.
He added: “If Tagovailoa does declare for the draft, and his prognosis continues to be positive, it now seems likely he’ll only have slipped a few spots, top evaluators say.”
Tagovailoa passed for 2,840 yards, 33 touchdowns and just three interceptions in nine games this season.
In three seasons with the Crimson Tide, the 2018 Heisman Trophy runner-up threw for 7,442 yards with 87 touchdown passes and only 11 interceptions in 684 attempts.