A falling Tua among the 3 quarterbacks the Patriots should target in the draft

#1 – Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

For three years the presumption has been that Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa would be the first player selected in the 2020 draft. Last year, that belief manifested in to a ‘Tank-for-Tua’ mantra adopted by the fan bases of the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals.

But, the 2019 season happened – Tua was injured and inconsistent, leading to offseason hip surgery; while LSU quarterback Joe Burrow had one of the best seasons in college football history en route to a Heisman Trophy and a National Championship.

To compound Tua’s injury-plagued season and subsequent surgery, COVID-19 has swept the globe and the pandemic has shut down team’s ability to medically evaluate and work out college prospects, especially those coming off of injury.

As a result, not only has Burrow cemented himself as the top quarterback in the draft, but there is a fair chance that Oregon’s Justin Herbert also goes ahead of the once-budding superstar, and Tua could experience an Aaron Rodgers-type slide on draft day. Rodgers famously fell all the way to the 24th pick in the 2005 draft, and Tua could experience the same type of fall.

A trade-up to select perhaps the most talented quarterback prospect in the draft who falls from the top three due to medical question marks and a globe-altering pandemic sounds exactly like the sort of villainous move Bill Belicheck might pull off. Tua landing in New England would be exactly the sort of move that makes Belicheck a legend and makes opposing fans hate him.