Tua's Healthy - There's Still No Need!

I just don't get it. I don't mean to be a jerk in any way, but my responsibility here at RedskinsReport.com is to tell you what I believe to be the truth as close to 100% of the time as I can.

When it comes to Tua Tagovailoa and especially the Redskins at No. 2 - there's zero chance that I can support Washington selecting an injury prone, talented quarterback no matter how great his deep ball accuracy, leadership and character is.

Even if he played at Alabama.

This has been my spin way before the Redskins acquired Kyle Allen. Now I believe there's a 99% chance they don't do it, but I still can't rule it out because I don't believe they are sold on Dwayne Haskins in any way.

Yet, the national media continues to completely overlook the fact that Tagovailoa doesn't just one injury to overcome. He has a half dozen.

Or a track record of injuries in his career.

This is pretty crazy (and important) https://t.co/C6eqPne9OY
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 1, 2020

For a sport that we use an individual's resume and track record to judge just about everything when they take a new job, how do we continue to ignore this very real and troubling history?

I hate to be a broken record and by no means am I anti-Tua - here's what I am. I am all for using common sense whenever possible.

Here's what's not sensible. Taking a quarterback at No. 2, No.3 or even No. 5 just because you feel like you have to or that you know for sure that this is the guy. Even if your doctors clear him from the one enormously major injury he had.

No you don't. He might be the guy when he's healthy. What if he's not?

Some have called Tagovailoa the left-handed version of Russell Wilson.

Whatttt? Eight seasons, 16 games in each and Wilson has not missed a single one. 128 for 128.

I don't even remember him ever being seriously injured or near missing a game.

Wilson runs around like a lunatic and makes play after play. His offensive line has never been more than average at best. He has an innate feel and to some degree is incredibly lucky. Some are. Tua hasn't been.

How is this NOT the most important part of the evaluation when it comes to Tagovailoa?

Kirk Cousins, the quarterback that the Redskins and Bruce Allen could not WAIT to get rid of, hasn't missed a game due to injury since becoming the Redskins starter in 2015.

The only game he's missed was the last game of the regular season last year when the Vikings had nothing to gain or lose. Mike Zimmer didn't let him play. Five years. Has played every game he was allowed. Never even been seriously or moderately injured.

Many football fans didn't love Eli Manning, despite a mostly stellar career with two Super Bowl championship runs.

Manning never missed a game due to injury in his career. He was benched this past year and was awkwardly benched one time in 2017, but that's it. Period.

Both Cousins and Manning could never be confused with running quarterbacks. They survived and thrived.

Philip Rivers has started every single game for 14 seasons in a row. Every game.

I'll take those four guys over just about anyone. YOU can have an injury prone linebacker or running back.

You can't have an injury prone quarterback. Period. Durability should be the NO. 1 quality or judgement that you make on a good quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger is great. A hall-of-famer. I'd rather have Russell Wilson. Big Ben is better than Manning was. I'd honestly rather have had Eli because he answered the bell every Sunday.

Back to Tagovailoa, it's not just about injury track record but also what happens in the next phase. Let this soak in.

Then there's this: What if Tagovailoa plays but is at 80% and he's not surrounded by all-world talent like he was at Alabama?

Since 1997, the top prospect QBs who played with the most draftable talent at WR/TE/OL:

1) Tua Tagovailoa
2) Danny Wuerffel
3) Johnny Manziel
4) Matt Leinart
5) Joe Burrowhttps://t.co/kpazPWtuXf
— Football Outsiders (@fboutsiders) April 2, 2020

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.

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