NFL Rumors: Patriots could be aggressive if Tua Tagovailoa falls in draft

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There really is no saying where Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be selected in the 2020 NFL Draft. 

The 22-year-old could go as high as fifth overall to the Miami Dolphins or he could slip lower in the first round. The biggest concern regarding Tagovailoa is his injury history, but that may not stop the New England Patriots from aggressively pursuing him if he slips, according to ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. 

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“It’s going to be the million-dollar question," Kiper Jr. said of where Tagovailoa will land, according to WEEI's Ryan Hannable. "That’s the whole intrigue and the element of the draft that you just can’t figure is these types of things. You hear people, and I know everyone is screaming that Tua has to go high, you have to take that risk. And then you hear people in the league saying he could fall and everybody is doing their due diligence, including the Patriots. You can rest assured, if he gets into the middle of the first round and you’re sitting there at No. 23, wouldn’t you jump up and maybe get him? You know the connection with Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. And I know how Nick feels about Tua.

"If you go from Tom Brady to Tua, a healthy Tua. Now, that is the thing -- can you keep him healthy? People say, ‘Well, everybody gets hurt.’ Quarterbacks don’t get hurt. Brady had the one injury when (Matt) Cassel came in. (Dan) Marino had the Achilles one year. Most of these quarterbacks, Eli (Manning) played forever, (Philip) Rivers, (John) Elway, (Jim) Kelly, when do these guys get hurt? The quarterbacks, when do they get hurt? This guy has had significant injuries, so to me, if he starts slipping a little bit, sliding down, where it happened with Aaron Rodgers not that long ago, and he was projected to be No. 1 two weeks before that draft and he went in the 20s, yes, if it did happen, I would think New England would be aggressive to try and go up and get him.”

While the Patriots are expected to draft a quarterback in the upcoming draft, there's been no clarity on whether or not they'll take a chance on a QB in the first round or if they'll wait until the later rounds. If they pass on Tagovailoa and Jordan Love, they could still have some interesting options in Jake Fromm, Jalen Hurts and Jacob Eason. 

New England is set to have a competition for QB1 between second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham and veteran Brian Hoyer, but with a third quarterback in the fold, things could get very interesting. 

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