While it seems clear that the Dolphins will take a Quarterback with the No. 5 overall pick — specifically either Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Alabama’s Tua Taglovailoa — the favorite to be selected is still blurry to all.
Prior to his devastating hip injury on November 16th vs Mississippi State , Tua was having an amazing 2019 Season, throwing 180/252, 2,840 yards, 33 Touchdowns, and only 3 Interceptions.
He is said to have made a full recovery after successful surgery, but many are still skeptical, especially after Tua did not participate in the Combine, and was unable to visit any teams because of the pandemic.
The only thing preventing Tua from securing an early draft pick by the Dolphins is his hip injury. People question if Tua is injury prone, and this is why Justin Herbert is in the talk for the Dolphins.
Justin Herbert also had a good 2019 Season, throwing 286/428, 3,471 yards, 32 Touchdowns, but also 6 Interceptions.
While his stats are a little bit worse than Tua, he is still a very good option for the Dolphins, in a time of need at the position.
To further compare the two candidates, let’s look into the Wonderlic test.
The test is used at the NFL scouting combine to measure general cognitive ability in three areas: math, vocabulary, and reasoning. The test has 50 multiple choice questions that are to be answered in 12 minutes.
The test scores for Quarterbacks were released yesterday by CBS Sports: Tua scored a 13/50, and Herbert scored a 25/50.
Tua did score the lowest out of all the Quarterbacks in the draft, but this does not mean that he won’t be successful in the NFL, but shows that Tua may not be that good under pressure; something he rarely dealt with at Alabama.
Right now, it would be beneficial for the Dolphins to take Justin Herbert over Tua, as he has immense potential considering his physical stature, is seemingly better under pressure, and does not have the blurry injury history like Tua.
Photo: Miami Herald
