Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has a huge decision to make for his future in the coming weeks. As he weighs whether he'll take his talents to the NFL, Tagovailoa isn't quite sure he'll have the same skill set after the devastating hip injury he suffered last month.
"I don't think I'd be the same again because there's like metal in here, you know?" Tagovailoa said. "I lose some rotation inward, so I won't be able to twist as much inward and whatnot. I wouldn't need that as much. When you're running, you're almost always opening up your hip. From what the doctors say, they expect a full recovery and I'll be able to go out there and play football again at 100 percent, it's just I won't be able to rotate it internally the same way."
Tagovailoa suffered a dislocated right hip Nov. 16 against Mississippi State. Since having the surgery, Tagovailoa's prognosis has been categorized as "excellent."
Before suffering the season-ending injury, Tagovailoa was also dealing with an ankle injury that required a tight-rope surgery. It was the second time he had undergone that procedure, though the prior time was on his other ankle.
The ankle injury caused him to miss Alabama's Oct. 26 contest against Arkansas. The Crimson Tide obviously didn't miss a beat as they rode backup quarterback Mac Jones to a 48-7 win over the woeful Razorbacks.
Tagovailoa completed 71.4 percent of his passes for 2,840 yards and 33 touchdowns before the hip injury. In fact, he was lighting up Mississippi State as he completed 14-of-18 passes for 256 yards and a pair of touchdown passes before going down.
Prior to the injury, it was expected that Tagovailoa could be one of the top picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. With teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins looking like they'll be at the top of the draft, it was viewed as a likely possibility that Tagovailoa would land in one of those spots
Tagovailoa's injury is no minor one and the road to recovery could be difficult. Maybe Tagovailoa will lose a little bit of his athleticism, but there's also a strong chance that he can bounce back whether he heads to the NFL or stays at Alabama for another year.
