Tua Tagovailoa checks early box for 2020 NFL draft

Tua Tagovailoa is one of the early favorites to be the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft and his draft stock is already off to a good start after his weigh-in in March.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be one of the most coveted prospects in the 2020 NFL draft and will begin the 2019 college football season as one of the favorites to be the No. 1 overall pick.

Tua’s college tape makes the case for his lofty draft status. He’s poised beyond his years, throws the ball with near-elite accuracy and has plenty of arm strength to make difficult throws down the field. He’s a good athlete, too, who’s capable of gaining chunks of yards with his legs when the pocket breaks down.

Tua started 15 games for Alabama in 2018. He completed 69% of his passes and threw for 3,966 yards, 43 touchdowns and just six interceptions. His production matches his tape.

But is he big enough? Like other small-ish quarterbacks before him, the biggest obstacle he may have to overcome is something he can’t control: his height.

It appears he’ll actually be OK, however, and will check the all-important 6-foot box that teams want in a highly-graded quarterback.

According to the Senior Bowl’s Jim Nagy, Tua measured in at a shade over 6 feet at Alabama’s junior day on March 6.

This year’s top quarterback prospect, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, solidified his status as the first overall pick when he measured in at 5-10 at the NFL combine. And while that’s below the desired 6-foot mark, it’s at least tolerable.

For Tua to be over 6-feet and weigh a pretty shocking 230 pounds is fantastic for his draft stock heading into next season. He’ll jockey with Oregon’s Justin Herbert all season for the right to be called the top quarterback prospect in the country, but with the measurables concern behind him, he should have little trouble emerging as QB1 next April.