Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa recalls 'fears and doubts' about slipping out of 1st round in 2020 NFL Draft

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa talks to Fox News Digital about his NFL Draft experience in 2020.

Tua Tagovailoa was a quarterback every team wanted before the start of the 2019 college football season, which would eventually be his last with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

"Tank for Tua" was in full swing. But a serious hip injury and a broken nose against Mississippi State threw his draft stock awry. Not to mention, the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic through the draft process off entirely. The entire draft itself was held virtually for the first time.

Most draft experts believed that even with the injury, Tagovailoa was going to be taken early in the first round – it was just a matter of when. Joe Burrow was first off the board, followed by Chase Young, Jeff Okudah and Andrew Thomas. The Dolphins then selected Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick of the 2020 draft.

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Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins looks to pass against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Dec. 31, 2023. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Tagovailoa, in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, said he could’ve been one of the first three chosen if he was healthy and that some fear crept in that he would be left out of the first round because of the injuries.

"I think for my particular draft class, I had a unique deal going on because, for one, it was COVID. COVID was going on," he said. "And then, two, I was also dealing with an injury leading up to the draft. I had my hip injury, and then I also, like, broke my nose at the same time. I was also in this gray area of, OK, I know if I were healthy, I could have had an opportunity to be the first draft pick or the second or the