Is Tua Tagovailoa's Draft Stock Up or Down?

The closer we all get the to the 2020 NFL Draft, the more apparent it becomes that no one knows what's going to happen

Another day, another mock draft.

At least that's the way it seems. With the the draft set to start Thursday, and nothing else going on in the world of sports, the rumor mill is spinning so fast that it might soon break. 

What's different about this latest mock draft is that it's version 16.0 by Sports Illustrated, with Kevin Hanson conducting his first full, seven-round projection. We're talking all 255 picks, from Joe Burrow to Mr. Irrelevant.

We'll cut to the chase on the Alabama guys for you:

First round

6. Los Angeles Chargers: Tua Tagovailoa, QB

8. Arizona Cardinals: Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama

13. San Francisco 49ers (via IND): Jerry Jeudy, WR

15. Denver Broncos: Henry Ruggs III, WR

20. Jacksonville Jaguars (via LAR): Trevon Diggs, CB

26. Miami Dolphins (via HOU): Xavier McKinney, S

Second round

54. Buffalo Bills: Terrell Lewis, Edge

Third round

89. Minnesota Vikings: Raekwon Davis, IDL

Fifth round 

159. Las Vegas Raiders: Anfernee Jennings, Edge

Sixth round 

193. Indianapolis Colts: Shyheim Carter, S

Meanwhile, Chad Reuter of NFL.com also posted his seven-round mock draft, and began it with the line: "Tua Tagovailoa should be the second player selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.

"The former Alabama standout is exactly the sort of quarterback every team should want leading their franchise."

He then picked Tagovailoa to go sixth to the Chargers, predicting that some teams will be scared off by his injury history.

First round

6. Los Angeles Chargers: Tua Tagovailoa, QB

13. San Francisco 49ers: Henry Ruggs III, WR

18. Miami Dolphins, Jedrick Wills, OT

20. Jacksonville Jaguars, Terrell Lews, Edge 

21. Philadelphia Eagles: Jerry Jeudy, WR

Second round 

51. Dallas Cowboys: Trevon Diggs, CB

Third round 

82. Dallas Cowboys: Xavier McKinney, S

Fourth round

124. Pittsburgh Steelers, Anfernee Jennings  Edge

137. Jacksonville Jaguars, Raekwon Davis, DT

If anything, the contrasting mocks give an idea of how there's wide range of opinions heading into the final days. 

Say what on Tua?

As the New York Post put it with a headline, the Tua Tagovailoa bashing has peaked.

The Athletic’s Bob McGinn, a prominent NFL reporter who for years covered the Green Bay Packers, quoted some NFL scouts were were extremely critical of the former Alabama quarterback. 

“I’m playing the odds. I don’t want to put my whole franchise on a left-handed, beat-up, 6-foot quarterback. No thank you,” an AFC personnel man told the website of Tagovailoa.

Two items in the report that especially stood out was Tagovailoa had the lowest Wonderlic score of the 2020 draft-eligible quarterbacks with a 13, and there was concern that Alabama’s RPO-based offense would translate to the pros.

ESPN's Laura Rutledge was quick to shoot down the Wonderlic information:

Clarification on Tua Tagovailoa’s Wonderlic Score: He took the test in spring of 2018 at Alabama, and got a 13. He took it again at the combine and scored a 19. The average score is a 20. I’m told, NFL teams have this information and there are no concerns.

— Laura Rutledge (@LauraRutledge) April 17, 2020

Meanwhile, the RPO part doesn't make a lot of sense either because Alabama runs a pro-style offense with RPO elements that are similar to what the majority of NFL teams are now doing. It's almost like they're trying to argue that having a quick release isn't a good thing at the next level.

Most of the talk about Tagovailoa following his hip surgery in November had been extremely positive until about a week ago. Even the anonymous quotes had been more in line like this one from Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, when reporting that a lot of scouts and coaches regard him as a safer pick than Oregon's Justin Herbert: 

"I think [Tua]'s a really good prospect -- a prospect that you can win pretty quickly with," an NFC executive said. "He's really polished with his footwork and his fundamentals. I don't think you're going to see [Herbert's] ceiling for quite a bit. For Tua, the floor and the ceiling are pretty close." 

Meanwhile, here's an opinion that Washington should still be thinking about Tagovailoa at No. 2 overall. 

Mayden gets some draft love

Although former Alabama safety Jared Mayden didn't get invited to the NFL combine, Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network believes he's going to get drafted. 

"I'm a fan of his," Jeremiah said. "He's my 114th player. I thought he was somebody that definitely belonged at the combine.

Since the draft will include just 255 players and the combine and well more than that, most mock drafts barley list anyone who wasn't in Indianapolis. Offensive lineman Matt Womack is another former Crimson Tide player who is hoping he's done enough to be selected. 

"If you're a non-combine player and you're at Alabama and teams have seen you, seen you in the fall, seen you at All-Star games, they've had exposure to you, they're more comfortable with you and they're going to be more comfortable turning in the card," Jeremiah said. "Now, some teams will even have a problem with those guys because they might not have medical on them. But the non-combine players where you didn't get a chance to get medical, where you didn't get a chance to visit with them, it's going to penalize them a little bit, unfortunately, and it's going to be the benefit of the guys that were big school players or guys that have been to the combine.

"The medical is the biggest hangup on these guys because the last thing you want to do is assume you've got a healthy player and you spend a fourth-round pick on him and he comes to your building and you find out, this guy has got an arthritic knee or some other type of an issue."

T.G. Paschal/BamaCentral

Did you notice? 

• The Detroit Lions are reportedly talking with teams about trading out of the No. 3 pick. 

• New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman told reporters on a conference call that having former Alabama assistant coach Burton Burns on staff was a "big help" with providing insight on Crimson Tide players. "It sure really gives us a good in.” There's a lot of speculation that the Giants are interested in tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.

• Here's the bottom line when it comes to most mock drafts: 

I had a GM tell me, “The media is wronger about mock drafts this year than you guys have ever been.” Point being, players are going to be taken in places no one expects. https://t.co/oyDHSndqkl

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 17, 2020