The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Analyst ranks Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa last among top 40 NFL QBs
In a top-40 countdown of NFL quarterbacks, one analyst ranked Miami Dolphins rookie Tua Tagovailoa dead last. Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms has Tagovailoa, Miami’s fifth pick in April’s NFL draft, as his 40th-best heading into the 2020 season.
Simms credits Tagovailoa’s talent and charisma but is concerned about his injury history and the perceived talent disparity between his teammates at Alabama and his new Dolphins teammates. “Do I have my concerns if he will be worthy of that top-five pick, and be a guy that can carry a football team on his shoulders ... ? Yes, I’m very concerned about that,”Simms said during the “Pro Football Talk” radio show Tuesday. “Am I concerned a little bit by the fact that he got overhyped because he got credit for the Alabama machine? Yes, certainly. Am I concerned about his injury history and those things? You know it, yes I am.”
Is No. 40 too low for Tagovailoa? It could be, considering Redskins QB Dwayne Haskins ranks No. 39 and Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who will have to beat out Nick Foles to regain his starting job, sits at No. 38 on the list.
Tagovailoa was 30-2 as Alabama’s starter, throwing 87 touchdowns with just 11 interceptions. He had 12 games where he threw at least four touchdowns. Simms believes Tagovailoa was not worth a topfive or top-10 pick in the draft, but was still a first-round talent.
He also cites injury concerns for Tagovailoa, who continues to rehabilitate from a hip dislocation and posterior wall fracture he suffered last November.