Joe Burrow is the king of the hill known as the NFL Draft right now, but Tua Tagovailoa will do his best to climb back and re-join him at the top.
After suffering a season-ending hip injury two months ago, Tagovailoa has since declared for the draft and is planning on holding a workout for NFL teams sometime before then. Tagovailoa’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, recently said in an interview with AL.com that the former Alabama quarterback will either throw at Alabama’s pro day, or on a separate date afterwards.
“The [intention] there is the ball never touches the ground and I think he’s gonna blow away teams in that process,” Steinberg said.
Before any of this occurs, Tagovailoa will attend the NFL scouting combine (Feb. 23 - Mar. 2) but will not participate in any on-field work. NFL teams will be able to talk and medically evaluate the 21-year old for themselves, which is the most crucial aspect of the week-long event in Indianapolis.
Tagovailoa doing anything resembling throwing a football before April’s draft will be an indisputable win for his camp. Before his injury, he was the favorite to be picked No. 1 overall and is still projected to go top-five even with his medical prognosis in major question.
For the Cincinnati Bengals, they will surely be interested in seeing whether how Tagovailoa has progressed since his November surgery, even if it may be just due diligence.