Not sure what to do without sports? Luckily the NFL has us covered. Between a crazy off-season free agency and with the draft approaching, there is still plenty to look forward too.
With every draft comes the question, who you gonna take? It seems as of now Joe Burrow, coming off what some might call the greatest collegiate football season ever, is the clear cut number one overall pick. Coming off of a national championship and winning the Heisman by the largest margin since the award was first given out, it’s no secret this kid can ball.
Going into the beginning of the 2019 College Football season, the Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa was the #1 QB prospect and projected to be the #1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft. But on a cold Saturday night in November in Tuscaloosa Tua’s life would change. In a blowout win over Mississippi State.
The Alabama QB wanted to remain in the game as long as he could, and when a QB tells his coach he wants to play, it’s tough to say no. A decision Nick Saban must have regretted for the remainder of the season, causing Alabama to miss the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014. Tua’s injury on November 16th would sideline him for the remainder of the year.
The Junior Quarterback was then faced with the toughest decision any collegiate athlete in that position is faced with, come back for his Senior season, or achieve his childhood dream and enter the NFL draft. Now here we are just weeks before the NFL draft, the former projected #1 pick now sits as the #2 QB and projected 5th overall to the Dolphins, predicted by ESPN’s Todd McShay.
It was only one week prior to Tua’s devastating injury that the people got the matchup they’ve all been waiting for. The best of the best going toe to toe, the top 2 QB prospects in the country, and 2 of the top 3 ranked teams in the country squaring up. Safe to say both QBs knew what was at stake and both showed up.
In what looked like it would be a runaway win for the LSU Tigers, taking a commanding 33-13 lead into the locker room at half-time. Seemed to be all the motivation Tua needed to prove his worth as he saw his chance of being the #1 pick slipping away to Burrow.
Tua would go on to throw 3 TDs and cut the 20-point deficit to 5 but in the end the Tigers were able to hang on for a 46-41 over Saban and the Crimson Tide. In this shootout Burrow would throw for 393 yards and 3 TDs while completing 31 of 39 passes. Tua would counter going 21 for 40 with 418 yards and 4 TDs with 1 INT. On this night the world got a glimpse of what could be the next great Quarterback comparison.
A rough two week for Tua as Alabama just suffered their first loss of the season, and following week Tua goes out for the year. When his decision was made to entire the draft, his rehab process began. Tua was out to prove he was capable of being that #1 QB prospect he once was.
On the other hand, Joe Burrow was out breaking records and setting the greatest season any College QB has ever recorded. Even drawing comparisons to Tom Brady.
In an interview with NFL Network, Burrow showed his maturity saying “Please don’t compare to the best player of all time. Let me do my own thing. Don’t do that to me please” the comparison was made by NFL analysts Daniel Jeremiah.
In just over 3 weeks we will find out who is going where. In a time the world needs some sports drama, on April 23rd there is sure to be plenty of it. The questions are already looming, will Tua be healthy enough? Can Burrow continue his success at the next level? Will someone trade up to get their franchise QB? All these questions and more to be answered in just a few weeks.
Photo credits: nypost.com