New England Patriots: Laying out the path to drafting Tua Tagovailoa
If Tua Tagovailoa falls in the draft, here’s the path for the New England Patriots to surprise everyone to trade up and draft the quarterback from Alabama.
The 2020 NFL Draft will be key for the New England Patriots in setting the foundation for their future and where they go from here as an organization. While New England has a few needs throughout its depth chart that it could address in the draft while holding a dozen draft picks this year, one of the positions of need might lie at the quarterback position now in the post-Tom Brady era.
As everyone knows, Brady left the Patriots this offseason to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the remainder of his career, leaving Foxborough for the first time in his 20-year legendary career in the NFL.
With Brady gone, that leaves two quarterbacks remaining on the Patriots roster. One of those quarterbacks is second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham, with the other player being veteran Brian Hoyer. Those two are viewed by most as strong candidates to take over under center in 2020 and possibly beyond in New England.
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But there might be another option during the opening round of the NFL Draft, which starts on Thursday and wraps up on Saturday, that could come up early on that presents the Patriots with another option at quarterback not only this season but long into the future of the franchise.
Specifically, that quarterback is Alabama prospect Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa is viewed as one of, if not the best, quarterback prospect in the NFL Draft behind only LSU’s Joe Burrow, who will likely be the No.1 overall pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
There is one thing that has caused some teams concern over Tagovailoa, however, strictly due to his injury history and most notably the quarterback coming off of a hip injury while entering the NFL this season.
Those injury concerns and the viewed longevity of Tagovailoa’s career beyond this year might result in the quarterback sliding in the draft. Many mock drafts have Tagovailoa going either to the Miami Dolphins at No. 5 or the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 6, two teams that might be looking to add a quarterback this year.
If Tagovailoa falls even farther than that and those teams go with other prospects, New England could spring up in the draft to try and take a flier on Tagovailoa.
In his latest mock draft leading up to Thursday night’s opening round, NBC Sports’ Peter King predicts the Patriots will trade up to the No. 13 pick — currently held by the San Francisco 49ers — to select Tagovailoa.
"“Tough call for a franchise, but when would the Patriots ever get a shot at a potential superstar quarterback?” King wrote. “Even if they had to throw in next year’s first-rounder, I think this would be a risk worth taking for the Patriots.”"
It’s been no secret in the days approaching the draft that San Francisco would be interested in moving out of that No. 13 pick, which could spark trade talks with various teams around the league.
If Tagovailoa falls, that pick will become even more valuable and Bill Belichick and company could be among the organizations calling the 49ers to move up in the first round.
Next. 2020 NFL Mock Draft: Final full 7-round predictions. dark
The Patriots don’t necessarily need a quarterback early on in this draft and could take a chance on another quarterback in the later rounds if they are available. But as King said in his mock draft, you don’t get many chances at drafting a potential franchise quarterback and talent such as Tagovailoa, and New England might be thinking the same thing.