Getty Image / Todd Kirkland
There has been no shortage of speculation involving Tua Tagovailoa and his future in the NFL since he suffered a hip injury on Nov. 16 of last year. While he’s been cleared to play and gone through an intense, secret training camp with Trent Dilfer, some teams around the league still have major questions about the former Alabama star.
Plus, when you add the big cancel to the equation that’s kept Tagovailoa from working out for teams, it’s been an extremely difficult evaluation process for teams around the league. He also didn’t participate at the NFL Combine so teams are stuck with tapes of his workouts and game film.
Former Cleveland Browns General Manager Michael Lombardi confirmed that at least two teams around the league simply can’t get past Tagovailoa’s injury history. He joined the GM Shuffle podcast and explained that two teams ‘flunked’ him ahead of the NFL Draft, according to Saturday Down South.
“It’s not just his hip,” Lombardi said. “It’s his ankle. It’s his wrist. He broke his wrist the first day of spring ball one year. … He’s brittle. He is brittle. You can’t deny it. He’s a really good player.
“Look, I’m not disputing the evaluation,” Lombardi said. “I’m saying that, if you’re picking a quarterback, it’s really hard to pick a good one. It’s even harder with a guy who can’t stay healthy. That’s my point. Two teams I’ve talked to have flunked him. They flunked him on not just the hip, but on the multitude of injuries. The risk far outweighs the reward.”
Tagovailoa should still be a Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft in two weeks, if not a Top 5 pick, but it’s interesting to hear that two teams were just completely out on him given his injury woes.
This is a player that threw 87 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions in 32 games for the Crimson Tide and was 22-2 as a starter. One team, likely the Dolphins, is going to call his name and have a new franchise quarterback.