Re: Yep he nailed it. “Boyd with a bad wheel” is what he said.

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Re: Hey Quozzel Tua is Boyd

Jan 20, 2019, 4:53 PM

“TLDR Version: The more I watch Tua Tagovailoa, the more convinced I am he's Tajh Boyd. I'm also convinced he's hurt, maybe badly hurt.

Deshaun Watson made people forget how good Tajh Boyd was...but Tajh Boyd was really, really good. He completed 64.3% of his passes and threw for 11,904 yards and 107 TD's against just 39 INT's...and he also added another 1,165 yards rushing and 26 TD's with his feet. When it wasn't there through the air, he could pull it down and hurt you badly with his feet.

Tua's a bit more accurate - 66.8% - and he's thrown an impressive 27 TD's this season against only one pick - but if you look at the size/weight/build, he's actually very similar to Tajh: stocky, powerful, about 6'1". (They list Tua at 6'2" but he's never quite looked it and I think the NFL Combine measurements will show that.)

Tajh had two main weaknesses, and they cost him in the NFL: his accuracy on short and especially intermediate routes, and his ability to go through a structured progression. I think Tua is pretty much exactly the same.

Against LSU last night: exactly like Tajh Boyd, Tua showed that rare, rare deep ball...and he struggled with his accuracy and placement with the intermediate routes, especially when under duress. I was surprised how many balls he had sail on him in particular. LSU didn't have much of a pass-rush (especially compared to Clemson) but they were still able to affect him at times with the blitz, and Tua's stats fell: 25 of 42 (59.5%) and only 295 yards, 2 TD's...and his first pick of the year. And while LSU had to pressure via blitzes, they were able to man up - they have a very impressive secondary if not an impressive pass-rush - and it did suggest a pretty good road map of how to slow Tua down.

You might remember, the worst loss Tajh Boyd took - well, aside from a certain Orange Bowl debacle - was that 51-14 beatdown that Famous Jameis and FSU put on us in the Valley in 2013. In that game, Boyd, who I still consider the most gifted and prolific deep-ball thrower in Clemson history (yes, he was even better at that aspect of the game than Deshaun Watson was), was largely held in check by FSU's elite secondary, and affected badly by FSU's pass-rush...the Noles didn't silence Boyd entirely, but they did hold him to 17-of-37 (just a 46% completion percentage) and just 156 yards throwing, and just 1 TD against two INT's. The Noles harried and harassed Boyd all night, and had the DB's to actually run with Sammy Watkins/Martavis Bryant/Mike Williams...and they thumped us. Badly.

The more I watcheded Tua against LSU - particularly after he came up lame after running for a TD and then handed it off 90% of the time thereafter - the more convinced I got that exactly like Tajh Boyd, Tua is mortal, especially if you have the DB's to keep his very fast WR's from taking the top off your secondary. LSU just had zero passing game and came in with the 85th-ranked offense in the country and couldn't move the ball or score...if they had, Alabama could have been in trouble. Keep in mind also, Tua's #1 WR, Jerry Jeudy, is lightning-fast...but he is not a big guy, and isn't going to win 1-on-1 jump balls. He does verts and he does crossing routes, jump balls are not his thing.

No, Tua has his limitations...and he has a bad knee to boot and Alabama knows it full well, and is trying to hide it. Again, watch the tape: after he scrambled for a TD in the third, Tua barely threw again, and seemed to have a hard time putting any weight and driving off his leg even when he did. It didn't matter by that point because the game was decided and Alabama went to eat-the-clock grind-it-out mode, but Tua was done as an effective force. I think if you harry and harass him and don't let him linger in the pocket, if you take away his deep ball and cheap stuff like crossing routes, which he hits very well, I think he struggles exactly like Tajh did...if his knee doesn't give out first. I'm not even 100% Tua even makes it to the playoffs; I think Bama is playing with fire, letting him play on that knee.

FWIW. But I suspect future events will bear me out on this. And I certainly don't think Tua is the invincible complete player he is perceived as. Like I said: I think he's Tajh Boyd, and he might even be Tajh Boyd playing on a bad MCL or ACL.”

-Quozzel

This really was excellent analysis Q!!

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Hey Quozzel Tua is Boyd

Yep he nailed it. “Boyd with a bad wheel” is what he said.

Re: Yep he nailed it. “Boyd with a bad wheel” is what he said.

Re: Hey Quozzel Tua is Boyd

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