Is Tua Tagovailoa going to be a top-five pick in the 2020 NFL Draft?

Tua Tagovailoa has opted to leave school a year early and enter the 2020 NFL Draft. Even with his injury concerns, will he end up being a top-five pick?

After three seasons with the Alabama Crimson Tide, starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has decided to forego his senior season in Tuscaloosa and enter the 2020 NFL Draft. At the start of the 2019 NCAA season, Tagovailoa had the talent and the on-field success to be the No. 1 overall pick in this draft. However, injury concerns might knock him down a peg. Is he still a top-five pick?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former Oregon Ducks and NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, predict if Tagovailoa will end up being a top-five pick in this year’s draft. He has the talent for sure, but will durability concerns knock him out of the top-10 (49:30)?

Schwartz initially had his concerns about the injury but is all-in on Tagovailoa going in the top-five this spring. He thinks either some team will trade up to get him or he’ll just end up sticking with the Miami Dolphins, who have the No. 5 overall pick. Schwartz likes the fit with Miami because he can get paid to rehab for a year and learn under Ryan Fitzpatrick during his rookie season in 2020.

Verderame agrees that as long as the hip checks out, Tagovailoa should be a top-five pick. While he believes that the LSU Tigers’ Joe Burrow will go No. 1 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals, Verderame would not be shocked if the Dolphins trade up from No. 5 to No. 2 in a deal sending multiple first-round picks the Washington Redskins’ way. He thinks Tagovailoa is that talented.

Should Tagovailoa fall to teams like the Los Angeles Chargers picking at No. 6 or even the Carolina Panthers picking at No. 7, he should be in a great spot to succeed in the NFL anyway, as long as his rehabilitation goes okay. Since quarterbacks typically fly off the board well before the should go, there is almost no way Tagovailoa isn’t drafted by a quarterback-desperate team by No. 5.

Ultimately, we should expect Tagovailoa to go somewhere in the No. 3 to No. 5 range. Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young should go No. 2 to the Redskins. Teams like the Detroit Lions picking at No. 3 and the New York Giants picking at No. 4 probably won’t go with a quarterback. They are in prime position for several teams to trade up and draft Tagovailoa in the top-five.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Saints shockingly go home on controversial call (4:24)
• Should the NFL change overtime rules? (8:39)
• Does Tom Brady return to the Patriots? (25:19)
• What are we looking forward to this week? (57:10)

All this and more!

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