Trent Dilfer Walks Back Comparing Tua's Arm to Aaron Rodgers, Dan Marino

Trent Dilfer is very carefully explaining comments he made about quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's arm on Wednesday. 

The quote presented by Les Carpenter in the Washington Post, according to Dilfer, combined two different schools of thought. Here's how it ran in the Post: 

"If he would have never gotten hurt there would have been no discussion about who the best player in the draft is. He throws the football better than anyone throws the football. He throws better than Aaron Rodgers and Dan Marino. Whoever gets him wins the draft because you are getting a Hall of Fame player."

After those comments received a notable amount of criticism on social media, the former NFL analyst took to Twitter to clarify:

Dilfer, most famous for quarterbacking the Baltimore Ravens to victory in Super Bowl XXXV, has been working with Tagovailoa privately in Nashville, Tennessee, where he serves as the head coach of Lipscomb Academy, a private school. As Tagovailoa continues prepping for the draft on April 23, his trainer is staying cautious not to overhype the former Alabama star. 

That isn't to say Dilfer is not pumping up Tagovailoa's skills at all. He is confident teams will regret passing on his protege. 

"There are some really, really good quarterbacks in this draft, but the best one is Tua," Dilfer told Carpenter. 

It's not the 22-year-old's abilities that are in question, however. It's his health. After suffering a dislocated hip that ended his college career in November, the Hawaii native was forced to undergo surgery and rehab. 

While LSU quarterback Joe Burrow remains the favorite to go No. 1 overall, Tagovailoa shouldn't be far behind him. Most analysts have him pegged as a first-rounder, with a few suggesting the Miami Dolphins could take him with the fifth overall selection. 

That's where Dilfer's comments originally ran him into trouble. Marino is a beloved figure in Miami still, and it makes little sense to undercut a franchise legend when the team might be interested in drafting Tagovailoa.

Armando Salguero, a columnist for the Miami Herald, was certainly confused by those comments. It was his tweets that prompted Dilfer's clarification. 

These are the types of comments that could be quickly forgotten after the draft but make some difference before it. Especially for teams who need to get their fans to buy in on picking a quarterback with health concerns.