2020 NFL Draft Position Preview: Quarterbacks and when Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts may get Picked

Tua Tagovailoa is poised to be one of the first players selected, and former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts is getting a lot of draft attention too

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Updated:
Apr 23, 2020 2:07 AM EDT
Original:
Apr 22, 2020

Only one time in the history of Alabama football has the Crimson Tide seen two quarterback selections in the draft.

Sort of.

It was 1965, and Joe Namath was the 12th-overall selection of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL draft. However, the upstart AFL also had a draft on the sane day, Nov. 28, and Namath was the first overall pick.

That's how he ended up with the New York Jets. That and the biding war which ensued.

Namath asked for $200,000 and a new Lincoln Continental from the Cardinals, who were aghast at his demands but agreed if he signed before the Orange Bowl. Instead, he signed with the Jets the day after the game, for $427,000, which at that point was the biggest rookie contract in pro football history.

This year, Alabama will see two selections again.

Sort of.

In his final Big Board, ranking the overall players for the draft, Kevin Hanson of Sports Illustrated had Tagovailoa fifth. Of course, both the Miami Dolphins at No. 5 and the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 6 are in need of a quarterback.

"Tagovailoa says he “feel(s) 100 percent” and looked good at his virtual pro day," Hanson wrote. "Even so, how team doctors assess his recovery and durability risk amid the current travel and team visit restrictions adds plenty of uncertainty to where he will be ultimately be selected. When healthy, however, Tua has a quick release and throws with elite accuracy, anticipation and touch to all levels of the field."

Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts, who played last season at Oklahoma as a graduate transfer, was No. 87.

There's a lot of buzz around him, though. Peter King of NBC said: "Everybody I talk to says he will not get out of round two," and there's a chance he could end up a late first-round selection.

Of course, Tagovailoa and Hurts filled in for one another in title games, leading dramatic wins agains Georgia. Tagovailoa replaced Hurts in the National Championship Game, and Hurts took over for injured Tagovailoa in the 2018 SEC Championship Game.

Due his injuries, Tagovailoa may be the most polarizing figure in the draft.

In terms of instincts and accuracy some consider him in a class by himself. If Tagovailoa hadn't suffered both an ankle and hip injury last season, which limited him against LSU and then ended his season, there would be a huge argument about whether he or Joe Burrow should be the top pick overall.

Instead, there's a lot of talk about whether Oregon's Justin Herbert might be the second quarterback selected.

"[In] the SEC, the defenses you're going to see in the SEC on a week-in, week-out basis are better than what you're going to see in the Pac-12, but Herbert has had some good crossover games, obviously played Auburn this year," Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network said. "But I didn't think in those bigger-stage moments, I thought Herbert was solid but I never thought he dominated those football games against better teams."

We'll find out Thursday (7 p.m. CT, ABC, NFL Network and ESPN).