Report: Tua Tagovailoa Had Positive Checkup on Injury Before Entering NFL Draft

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa announced Monday he will forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility and enter the 2020 NFL draft.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported one key reason that led to Tagovailoa's decision:

Tagovailoa completed 71.4 percent of his passes for 33 touchdowns and three interceptions in just nine games in 2019. A right hip dislocation and posterior wall fracture suffered against Mississippi State on Nov. 16 prematurely ended his year.

His entrance into the NFL draft will now spark debate on where he may end up.

The positive news on Tagovailoa's hip is encouraging. As well, in November, Rapoport spoke with "five high-ranking executives" who said he "is still expected to be taken in the first round, with all believing he'll end up in the first half of the round."

Still, NFL teams will likely want to check his hip before drafting him, and the quarterback recognized that during his press conference.

"With my hip, a lot of the guys [the GM, owners I've gotten to talk to] kinda look at this injury as a knee injury," Tagovailoa said, per Jamie Hale of ABC 33/40 News. "Like are we going to take a chance on this guy? The biggest thing they want to see is if I can move and go back to how I was playing prior before."

Provided his prognosis is a positive one closer to draft time—and indications are that it will be—then it's hard to imagine he'll fall out of the top 10.

The Cincinnati Bengals seem like shoo-ins to draft Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow out of LSU at No. 1. After that, though, the Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars could all decide to select a signal-caller in the top 10.

The Dolphins at No. 5 are perhaps the best bet as a rebuilding team in search of a franchise quarterback. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report projected the ex-Alabama star to Miami in his latest mock.