SEC insider says that Tua Tagovailoa will be Alabama's starting QB by end of season
Alabama fans were certainly encouraged by what they saw from freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa in Saturday’s A-Day spring game, as the young Hawaiian showed off a strong arm in the high-flying scrimmage.
Tagovailoa’s debut performance has even impressed some media members, and SEC insider Mike Detillier went as far as to say he thinks the freshman will replace Jalen Hurts as Alabama’s starting quarterback by the end of the 2017 season, according to his appearance on an Alabama radio station on Tuesday afternoon:
I think Tua Tagovailoa will be Alabama's starting QB by the end of the season – @MikeDetillier on @TheGAMEon1029 in Tuscaloosa pic.twitter.com/y9yCS5dDqf
— Ryan C. Fowler (@RyanCFowler) April 25, 2017
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Considering Hurts was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year after an impressive freshman campaign in 2016, Detillier may be a little too overhyped about Tagovailoa.
However, if Hurts doesn’t develop as a passer (though he looked good in Saturday’s scrimmage, too), it is possible that coach Nick Saban will give the freshman a chance to show what he can do.
Hurts looked hurried, confused and off base. A couple of decent throws and a lot of misses, even on short routs. He looked just like last season, no improvement.
Um, were you watching the same A-Day Game as everybody else? Jalen was on point and very accurate on the vast majority of his throws. Heck, even his interception wasn’t even entirely his fault. Granted, it wasn’t that good of a pass, but it wasn’t that bad of a pass either. It flew right past the TE’s head. If the TE would have been paying attention, the worst case scenario is that he would have dropped the ball and it would have been incomplete. Overall (and especially on the deep ball), Jalen looked a lot more polished as a passer. I do not understand where you got him being “hurried, confused, and off base”. I mean, granted, there were a few times where it was obvious that he wanted to take off running, but instead forced him to stay in the pocket because of the nature of the scrimmage. But that was only a few plays.
His deep ball accuracy looked a lot better…
U must be blind.
Hurts has never looked “hurried, confused or off-base.” Inaccurate? Yes. He has more poise than I have ever seen in an 18 year old kid. You sir, are nothing more than a damn hater.
His deep ball accuracy looked a lot better…
I hardly think the defense was gassed in the Championship Game Clemson run a pick, which is illegal by the way and won on the last play of game. All you can say is Clemson our lasted Bama but I am happy for them and proud of our former player and now head coach Dabo Sweeny. Don’t ya’ll get your hope’s up about Saban retiring cause Dabo said he would come to Bama if mama calls !
I have not seen where he has said that, and I don’t think he ever has. He is smarter than that.
Jalen looked cool as ever. Made great down field throws. The running game took a back seat in the A Day game. We’ll see how it goes into the season. Anything can happen. Tua looked good on passes as well. He does need some real game experience.
@RyanCFowler And I think Larry Bird will be the MVP of the league and the NBA finals.
Couldn’t agree with Detillier more. Hurts is lost on reading a field. That’s why he rushes so well, when people figured out how to play Bama last year, make Hurts beat them with his arm, that’s when he had the “slump” everyone is harping on. The defense carried last years team. They scored often and many times gave the offense a short field to work with. Clemson exploited that and gassed the defense. The rest is history. Tagovailoa can spread the ball around and run if need be.
Yeah. He looked real good against the second team defense
I was one of those who really felt Hurts just couldn’t throw last year, especially down field. He does appear to be improved from his A game performance, but that’s with no one coming on him so we will see.
Y’all got to give Hurts some love jeez, all you guys are hating on the man. Lets not forget that he is only 18 years old still!! I am pretty sure that Tua is older than Jalen (not sure) hahah.
Keep in mind Tia was going against the 2nd team defense, and the 2 times he went against the 1st team D, he went 3 and out
Two of us going against tattoos while hurts was going against the ones not a fair comparison spring game should not be an evaluation of players hurts did throw the ball considerably better than last year so unless he gets hurt he will be the starter pull in by the way last year he was SEC offensive player of the year
Not gonna happen unless hurts gets injured…..
If we run into a defense that requires more than dropping a bomb or Hurts is injured will be the only way T.T. will play. The timing with his receivers has improved a lot, BUT he does not go through a progression. He has one receiver and he looks him down until the throw or run. Pressure takes the pass out and the run in. If he runs trying to find a receiver then it is a sack. He just won’t throw the ball away to prevent the lost yardage. He did not complete a crossing route pass Sat. His interception was a crossing pattern thrown behind and head high. He has improved his passing and that may be enough to get us by this year but I fear that we are going to see a couple of D’s that are going to require more. I would ask that before y’all start calling me names, to look at the replays again. Notice the passes completed for each QB and the route the receiver was running. Tua completed passes to to receivers on routes that were down in the progression and to different parts of the field. Instead of locking to one receiver he looked for a open man. Yes he is green and needs for the game to slow down for him but his instinctive play as a QB was on display. Jalen’s instinct to run was also displayed.
The Quarterback position does not appear to be a problem; Offensive Line does.
Hurts in the A-Day game showed tremendous improvement in his passing from last year. Thing is, too, his running ability adds another dimension to the Tide’s offensive capability, and the fact that his throwing has advanced will only add to his effectiveness as a runner. Tua is a gifted QB, with a great arm and exceptional field vision. But I don’t see him replacing Jalen as the starter unless Hurts falters badly.
Don’t think Tua will start over Jalen unless he gets hurt (hope that doesn’t happen & no pun intended) but do see him playing in some games such as Fresno State, Colorado State, & Mercer…..but maybe a few other SEC games depending on the score……..and don’t be surprised in seeing a trick play somewhere in any game with both Jalen & Tua on the same play……both of them are that athletic to pull off a trick play together.