Next month is the NFL Draft from Paradise, Nev.
The quarterback position has dominated all conversations, with Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama and Joe Burrow of LSU in the center of the talk.
Debates have sparked on who is the better prospect at the position, and who will ultimately be the better player. Both guys bring different aspects to the table; however, a pair of analysts on NFL Network see Tagovailoa as the better prospect.
Willie McGinest, a former outside linebacker, played 15 seasons in the National Football League with the New England Patriots (1994-05) and Cleveland Browns (2006-08).
He won three Super Bowls (2001, 2003-04) and collected 582 tackles with 86 sacks in his illustrious career. New England’s success came with Tom Brady at quarterback, but McGinest said that teams in today’s NFL need a guy that can move the pocket.
.@Tuaamann or @Joe_Burrow10?
Which QB are you building your franchise around?
?: @NFLTotalAccess pic.twitter.com/lrpxzCtyj4
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 4, 2020
“If you can’t protect your quarterback, then I need a guy that can move the pocket,” McGinest said on Tuesday. “That’s telling me Tua. I need a guy that can move the ball, and an example of that is Russell Wilson. A guy that is mobile, very accurate down the field, a guy that can protect himself. Tua has to learn to get down, get out of bounds or throw the ball away, but he is not looking to run. He is looking to throw and since his entrance as a freshman in the CFP National Championship Game, he showed that he has the poise, he can handle pressure and he’s been consistent.”
Even though Burrow made a lot of plays at LSU, McGinest said teams will not get the ‘out of pocket experience’ with him that they would with Tagovailoa.
To add on to McGinest’s claim, James Jones harped on Tagovailoa’s consistency.
RELATED: NFL Draft analyst explains why he would take Tua Tagovailoa over Joe Burrow
Jones, a former wide receiver, spent 10 years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders, New York Giants and San Diego Chargers. Despite the Raiders and Chargers moving locations, most of Jones’ success came with the Packers. He helped the team capture a Super Bowl title in 2010 and in 2012, he led the league in touchdown receptions with 14.
Once a third-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft from San Jose State, Jones said Tagovailoa makes any NFL team better because of his playmaking abilities.
“When you look at the quarterback position, the most important thing is consistency,” Jones said.
“Tua has shown us for three straight years that he is that guy. With Joe Burrow, it’s are we going to get the guy that threw 14 touchdowns or are we getting the guy that threw 60? It is a small sample size, but which guy are we going to get? I feel like with Tua, if you have a bad football team, he is the one that’s going to make the team better. With Joe Burrow, I feel like a lot of things have to go right around him. A lot of things have to be right for Burrow… With Tua, he can step in there and he is going to make your offense better by how big of a playmaker he is.”
To support Jones’ statement, Tagovailoa had success at Alabama with three different offensive coordinators. He rescued the Crimson Tide to a national championship with Brian Daboll, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy with Michael Locksley. If not for injuries, he would have guided the Tide to a national title and won the Heisman under Steve Sarkisian.
However, he did produce a stunning ratio of 33 touchdowns to three interceptions – prior to suffering a hip injury.
It took the Tigers getting the right play caller for Burrow to take off. Joe Brady mentored a record-setting season for Burrow, as he threw for 5,671 yards with 60 touchdowns to six picks in 2019.
He accounted for just 16 scoring tosses in the 2018 season.
With so much positive news on Tagovailoa’s right hip, teams in the top-10 of the draft are in a serious bind. Although Burrow had an amazing season, a healthy Tagovailoa offers much more.
It will be interesting to see how everything unfolds.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
