Desmond Howard says he's not ready to 'anoint' Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa
It’s safe to say that Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has sparked the Crimson Tide’s offense this season. But that doesn’t mean he’s impressed everyone just yet.
During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday, College GameDay host and ESPN analyst Desmond Howard said that he needs to see much more from the Alabama gunslinger before lofting praise like so many others have done.
After leading the Crimson Tide from the brink of defeat in last year’s national championship game, Tagovailoa currently sits second to Ole Miss’s Jordan Ta’amu with 1,495 passing yards through this season. He’s also notched 76 completions out of 101 attempts for 18 touchdowns, amounting in a QB rating of 258.4 through the first five weeks.
Granted, Howard, as well as many others, would no doubt like to see more production before placing Tagovailoa on a pedestal. But if that stat list isn’t enough for some type of impression, what will be?
"I haven't seen enough against stellar competition….I need to see much more from him before I can anoint him to any lofty position" – @DesmondHoward on #Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa pic.twitter.com/2xCO5vEikp
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) October 12, 2018
I’m totally shocked that he doesn’t want to offer even the slightest bit of praise for anything Alabama. Just utterly shocked.
IF TUA WAS DOING THIS AT SORRY ASS MICH. DESMOND WOULD HAVE HIS HEAD STUCK UP TUAS ASS.
He wants to see results against “stellar” competition. If that his standard, he never saw that in B1G play during his entire college career.
Tua already has something Desmond will never have. A National Championship ring. Just another B1G homer from Michigan. Been a long time for that bunch and it looks like it’s going to be an even longer time before they get another. oSu the only undefeated team up there now and if they lose to anyone, the B1G can join the Pac 12 and the little 12 on the not getting in rankings. Man, that’s a lot of hurt feelings. There will be some sort of plan out at years end to fix the problem by moving the bar even lower so they can feel better about their relevancy. All those saviors (Harbaugh, Meyer, etc.) and still playing in the loser Bowls on New Years.
Only one thing to say to Desmond. Those who can do, those who cant naysay.
He hasn’t faced any outstanding defenses this year, but Oklahoma QBs that have won the Heisman in the last 20 years have went the entire season against defense-optional teams and have not had the amazing accuracy and instinct Tua has shown. And the guy came off the bench at halftime with no snaps in a competitive game last year in the National Championship Game and threw for three touchdowns. How much more do you really need to see?