Alabama Football: Strengths, weaknesses in Tua Tagovailoa’s game

Alabama football’s Tua Tagovailoa has the potential to be one of the best draft prospects of the 2020 class. What are scouts seeing as they watch his game?

Alabama starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been the talk of the nation for the past year and a half. In Tuscaloosa, he’s turned heads for much longer than that. When he enrolled early, he shocked the casual fan with an amazing spring game that involved many highlight plays against the second-team defense. Fans couldn’t pronounce his name, but they knew from that moment that he was the future of Alabama football.

They were reminded of that truth early and often in his freshman season. In every blowout victory, he came in with the other backups and left jaws dropped in the stands. The biggest showing of this was against Vanderbilt, where he had a scrambling touchdown that very few veterans could’ve made.

Fast forward to the National Championship game, and we all know what happened there. Down two scores against a ferocious defense and still finding a way to claw your way back as a true freshman was amazing. Add in the fact that it was the first meaningful minutes of his college career, and those minutes were in the National Championship game, and you have a story that writes itself.

After earning the starting job over Jalen Hurts in his sophomore season, he stunned fans the same way he did in his freshman year. Highlight play after highlight play, and blowout win after blowout win. However, he got a little banged up along the way.

By the end of the year, some thought he lost his luster. This is understandable when you consider his injuries, but it was also at the worst time possible for him and his team. However, he should be fully healthy as he approaches his junior year, and all eyes will be on him.

As you watch, what is there to his game that both makes him so good and also holds him back?