According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, despite being connected to him for most of the past year, it’s not a certainty the Dolphins select Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa in the first round this April.
Instead, Salguero says not to dismiss Oregon QB Justin Herbert, who has his advocates in the organization, landing in Miami.
Tagovailoa entered 2019 as the betting favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, and the slogan “Tank For Tua” was popular with Dolphins fans this past season.
However, a dislocated hip ended Tagovailoa’s season and put his career in jeopardy. Though the reports of Tagovailoa’s recovery have been positive, Salguero says the Dolphins still have other durability concerns given that Tagovailoa has had ankle surgery twice in addition to the hip issue.
In comparison, the 6-6, 237-pound Herbert is much bigger, durable and more mobile than Tagovailoa, which Salguero said has earned him some advocates in the Dolphins’ personnel meetings so far this offseason.
Herbert was also impressive to scouts at the Senior Bowl, per Salguero, and helped boost his stock after a somewhat uneven senior season.
Herbert, 21, was considered to be one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2019 draft before he somewhat surprisingly decided to return for his senior season despite being a potential top-five pick.
During his four-year college career at Oregon, Herbert threw for 10,541 yards while completing 64 percent of his passes to go along with 95 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also rushed for 560 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Tagovailoa, 21, is still expected to be a high first-round pick in this year’s draft, despite the serious hip injury. In fact, many experts believe he’ll still be a top-five pick as long as things check out with his hip.
For his career, Tagovailoa has completed 69.3 percent of his passes for 7,442 yards, 87 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over the course of three seasons and 32 games. He has also rushed for 340 yards and nine touchdowns.
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