Alabama Legend Tua Tagovailoa Drops Update on Falcons' QB Battle

Former Alabama Crimson Tide star Tua Tagovailoa has certainly seen his NFL career take a turn for the worse.

A few years ago, Tagaovailoa was one of the top up-and-coming quarterbacks in all of football. In fact, he led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards in 2023 and posted a passer rating of over 100 each year between 2022 and 2024.

That earned him a lucrative contract extension with the Miami Dolphins after the 2023 campaign, but two rough seasons in a row resulted in the Dolphins cutting him.

Tagovailoa landed with the Atlanta Falcons earlier this offseason, and now, he is battling with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job.

The 28-year-old is widely viewed as the favorite to win the battle, but he still understands he needs to perform throughout training camp.

“I view it as a competition. I understand he can’t take some team reps right now because of what he’s going through, but he’s still being able to compete in seven-on-seven, he’s still able to go through some plays,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s definitely a competition.”

Penix is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last November, so he is a bit behind schedule. Tagovailoa has no such hindrances, although he has been dealing with a back issue that has limited him somewhat.

“Nothing too serious, just a caution kind of thing where we’re not rushing it. It was just a flare-up, nothing big, not anything long-term. We’ll be fine,” Tagovailoa said.

Tagovailoa, of course, spent three seasons at Alabama between 2017 and 2019, winning a national championship during his freshman campaign after replacing Jalen Hurts under center in the second half.

The Hawaiian native then went on to finish second in Heisman Trophy voting in 2018 after racking up 3,966 yards and 43 touchdowns through the air.

Tagovailoa was eventually selected by the Dolphins with the fifth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Injuries — particularly concussions — have certainly hampered Tagovailoa throughout his professional career (and even at 'Bama), but he has shown the ability to be very productive when healthy.

We'll see if Tagovailoa can bounce back in Atlanta this fall.