As I mentioned in my post, it was @furdukfish, who tried to minimize him, saying he was 'always gonna be a work in progress.' Hell, I even copied & pasted it. Try again at what? You lost pages ago.
You never offered an opinion on who would be the better pro, what you said was, the only reason Tua wasn't the number one pick was his injury. "NFL Draft History" you called it. You won't even consider that perhaps the greatest season of college quarterbacking ever might have knocked him off the perch.
Yes, TUA would have been #1. The concern with Burrow was that he only 1 great season. I don't think his great season would have knocked him off his perch. I'm not going to be a homer & say Burrow is the best, I saw his 2018 season. He finished 10th in the SEC among QBs.
Nothing wrong with what you're saying, but on draft day, a lot of teams' motto tends to be "what have you done for me lately?" Hell, we've seen guys who did practically nothing on the field make leaps up the draft board because of their Combine workouts (remember Akili Smith?) And don't forget the "Joe is an Ohio boy factor." He'll sell more tickets in Cincy than Tua ever would have. A different team might have stayed with Tua, but once Joe put up some bona fides, he was the Bengals' choice all the way. edit: I'll go a step further. The result was 1. Joe to the Bengals, 2. Chase Young to the WFT, 3. Tua to the 'Fins. Because of their situations/needs, (and presuming a 100% healthy Tua), I believe you put those 3 teams in any order and the picks remain the same.
Tua has the better physical skills but Joe checks the box on every intangible the pros dream of a QB having. You only say Tua is better because he played for your favorite team
I don't disagree & Janet's correct. But had Tua not been injured , who knows. Cincy could have picked TUA & either kept him or traded him for Burrow , plus a high draft pick, to get that "Local boy flavor ", if they wanted. His injury changed the draft, there is no question. It would have been Tua/Burrow #1& #2, imo. Add in the Heisman Bust factor as well. Doesn't make much of a difference, both Top 5 picks. I'm not sure why it's so important to you that Burrow was the #1 pick. Hell, I like Burrow a lot, think he made the most of his opportunity, obviously.
So first, there was no question Tua would have gone #1 had he remained healthy. Now, Cincinnati “could have” taken him #1 had he been healthy. Which is it?
I wonder if anyone can know what would have happened had Tua not suffered his last injury. Yes he has one of the prettiest passes in recent memory and yes he has tremendous star power. However he has a history of being injured. Remember he had surgery on both ankles, one in each season. His judgment was also questioned as time went on. He was able to take risks because he had great wide receivers and mistakes were minimized by gump defense. However his risk taking bit him several times when faced with top flight defense. Remember the 2018 championship game? Yes Joe was a one year plus phenomen but he showed flashes late 2018 at aTm and the bowl. Likewise while our receivers had talent in 18 they dropped too many passes. That would have made differences in many games and in the perception of Joe going into last year. His game management and decision making were praised by pros everywhere. He beat Tua in every measure in the last game. His performances in 2019 were head and shoulders above all others including Tua before injury. I think Joe more than earned the Number 1 status and all reports coming out of the respective camps support that conclusion.
