NFL Draft: Tua Tagovailoa should pass on the Miami Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa will make a great NFL quarterback for some teams he will immediately make better. The Miami Dolphins are not one of them.

For most of 2019, the most coveted NFL Draft prospect was Tua Tagovailoa. Tua would be the guy to solve any team’s quarterback problem. That premise changed last November with Tua’s hip injury. It was not like normal football injuries where players are expected to recover and return nearly or as good as before.

Against Mississippi State, Tua scrambled to his left and was taken down by two Mississippi State defenders. The play was clean, hard-nosed football. The injury was severe; a dislocated and fractured hip. One orthopedic expert, Dr. Lewis Levitt described the kind of force required to do so much damage “usually resulting from automobile accidents.”

The speed with which the Alabama football training staff dealt with the dislocation increased Tua’s recovery potential. One of the top orthopedic surgeons in America, Dr. Chip Routt performed the surgery. Each milestone of recovery has provided excellent news. Last week Tua was cleared to return to football training activities.

He intends to work-out in front of NFL teams at the Alabama Football Pro Day on April 9. There is concern the international virus pandemic might not allow April 9 to include any large gathering of people. The NFL has stated the Draft will continue as planned on April 23, but even that might get pushed back.

A delay of a few weeks might help Tua become more physically prepared. NFL teams are still unsure if he has a chance to play in 2020. Some would be happy to draft him even if he cannot play until 2021.

For much of the 2019 NFL season, the often-heard claim was the Miami Dolphins were tanking for Tua. With a bunch of Draft selections, the Dolphins are in a great position to get Tua. Sitting with the No. 5 pick might be high enough, If not, the Phins have enough picks to trade up.

So far, throughout the run-up to the Draft, there have been two, Tua Tagovailoa questions. How fully will he recover is one. Medical professionals state a hip injured like Tua’s may never return to full blood flow. The other question is beyond the injury and recovery. It is whether Tua is injury prone and likely to suffer another serious injury.

While NFL executives and coaches ponder those questions, we have one for Tua. Do you (Tua) want to play behind an inferior offensive line? The Dolphins gave up more sacks (58) than any other NFL team. To put that number in perspective, five NFL teams gave up fewer than 30 sacks in 2019. Three more were under 35.

There was a time when Joe Namath was so important to professional football he was hugged to stops. Sacks now are often violent poundings. Unless the Dolphins can show Tua a plan needing no more than 1.5 seconds to throw a pass, Tua might need to pass on them.

The Dolphins are trying to build a better offensive line. Maybe they will, but they also might not. Tua Tagovailoa needs to play for a team that can protect him from too many violent encounters.

Along with not being able to safeguard a quarterback, Miami had another glaring weakness in 2019. They were terrible at running the football. The Phins, 2020, re-staffed offensive line can be better than last season, and still be horrible.