The 2020 NFL Draft will be about the race for Tua Tagovailoa

The 2019 NFL Draft had plenty of stars, but none of them move the needle like Alabama Crimson Tide junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Yeah, the 2019 NFL Draft is wrapping up on Saturday. The excitement is over, right? Nope.

There’s always the next draft class to start thinking about. In this case, it’s the 2020 crop, and there’s one name that stands above the rest in Tua Tagovailoa. The junior for the Crimson Tide is the heavy favorite to be the first quarterback taken in the draft, and while Justin Herbert of Oregon is no door prize, the pecking order is clear.

Tagovailoa began to make his legend in the 2018 National Championship Game, coming off the bench to rally Alabama in an overtime win over the Georgia Bulldogs. Now entering his third season and second as a full-time starter, there’s no reason not to believe he’ll be the No. 1 overall pick this time a year from now.

Tagovailoa was dominant as a sophomore in Tuscaloosa. The Hawaii native threw for 43 touchdowns against only six interceptions while racking up 3,966 yards on an absurd 11.2 yards per attempt. If Tagovailoa had to actually play in the fourth quarter, he would have eclipsed 5,000 yards without much issue.

While things can change over the course of a full season, it’s hard to see him falling out of the top spot barring injury. The Tide are going to be terrific once more, the supporting cast is awesome, and Tagovailoa has done nothing but improve weekly.

When you start peeking ahead at the next class, think of Tua Tagovailoa. Everything and everybody else simply follows behind in his wake.