NFL Draft Profile: Taulia Tagovailoa, Quarterback, Maryland Terrapins

NFL Draft profile scouting report for Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa

#3
Pos: QB
Ht: 5111
Wt: 200
40: 4.74
DOB: 02/15/
Hometown: Ewa Beach, HI
High School: Thompson
Eligibility: 2023

Taulia Tagovailoa
Maryland Terrapins

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One-Liner:

A dual-threat quarterback who is capable of taking games over but lives and dies with a gunslinger mentality for better or worse; has shown continuous improvement.

Evaluation:

The streaky Tagovailoa doesn’t lack for confidence and can make all the throws. He can beat you with his arm or his feet and is a very strong runner despite his miniscule height. However, his stocky frame allows him to run through arm tackles and rip off large gains in the open field at the collegiate level. Tagovailoa understands who his playmakers are and where to go with the football. He possesses an unorthodox winding throwing motion and has been criticized for some questionable decision-making at times. In addition, he tends to get antsy in the pocket and will take off too early, rather than keep his eyes downfield. Tagovailoa has endured some of the highest of the highs and lowest of lows. In fact, he has defined a roller-coaster career. Throughout it all, the Hawaii native has maintained an extremely high confidence level in his own abilities. He has taken a conscience approach to improve his diet, sleep and more disciplined focus. Coaches say he trains like a pro and that attitude trickles down to the rest of the team—players tend to gravitate towards him. The bloodlines, leadership, competitiveness and mobility are all attributes that warrant a look at the NFL but his skill-set is actually perfectly suited for the CFL, where he could be a potential superstar.

Grade:

6th Round

Quotes:

“Taulia is the type of quarterback that, in my mind, it’s very imperative to put him in a system that fits his strengths. He’s going to extend plays, he’s going to do some things that might not be the ordinary quarterback responses to things and I think if your offense has that built in and you know that he’s going to make some great plays, he’s going to be highly, highly successful.” – Thompson high school head coach Mark Freeman on Taulia Tagovailoa

"The biggest thing with Taulia, as we talk about in our program, every player has a shelf life, meaning when the play is over, it dies. For Taulia, he's a guy that puts a lot of pressure on himself. There's nobody that has more expectations than he does. And what we've seen him do here from I say midpoint of last season on, is I've seen a maturity in how he manages himself, whether it's a good play, not letting that good play get him too high, or if it's a bad play, not letting it get him too low. We like to keep him at that neutral position. I see a growth out of him. I see a comfort level in our system. That's probably one area we want to see him improve in is just the emotional maturity and we've seen that out of Taulia." - Maryland HC Mike Locksley on QB Taulia Tagovailoa

Background:

Son of Galu and Diane Tagovailoa; has two sisters, Taylor and Taysia. Played center for his brother Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) in elementary school. His uncle, Derek Faavi, was a center at Hawaii from 2001-2005 under head coach June Jones and mentored him on how to snap and read coverages. The Hawaii native hails from Samoan culture. Head coach Michael Locksley previously coached him during his time at Alabama, which led to his transfer to Maryland. Had record breaking season in 2021, setting new single-season school marks in passing yards (3,860), completions (328), completion percentage (69.2%), touchdowns (26) and 300-yard passing games (seven). A unanimous four-star prospect, he amassed more than 14,000 yards during his high school career. Has two dogs, named Dallas and Star because his family grew up Cowboys fans. Plays the ukulele every night and is learning the guitar.