New England Patriots: 6 potential successors to Tom Brady
Tua Tagovailoa
The lefty from ‘Ewa Beach, Hawaii is a product of the Alabama Crimson Tide, coached by Nick Saban.
Saban has been close to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick for the better part of 30 years. So there is something. Tua Tagovailoa has also been very, very good.
Tagovailoa came into the college football spotlight during college football’s biggest game of the year, the CFP National Championship. Then-starter Jalen Hurts and the rest of the team were struggling against their SEC rival Georgia Bulldogs. The Tide were down 13 at one point, but Tagovailoa came in and won Alabama their 17th national title.
In 2018, he was amazing, racking up almost 4000 yards, school-record 43 touchdowns, & only 6 picks. His rating was 199.4, an NCAA FBS record. The Tide would come up short in that year’s national title game. Then, in 2019, he was on pace for what would’ve been a better season, over 2840 yards, 33 touchdowns, and just 3 picks in only 9 games.
His season was cut short due to a horrible hip injury suffered against Missouri State that knocked him out for the remainder of the year. This injury was said to be similar to the one Bo Jackson suffered, the same hip jury that derailed what would’ve likely been a legendary career. He was seen as the top quarterback in the draft, until of course the rise of LSU QB Joe Burrow, until he got hurt, and the injury may hurt his stock even more.
He may drop. Will he drop to the 23rd pick? No one knows. But if so, the New England Patriots may want to take a chance on him.