Thought it was a good sensible discussion that put some perspective on things. Some great points on there, like Alf stating "When did our fan base go from wanting to take a chance, swing for the fences, to so risk adverse". CK also, echoing something I had said in a post on here not long after it happen, that the ankle injury impacted his ability to get away from that pressure and in consequence caused the injury. Also the culpability of Saban in all this, Tua should never have been rushed back.
If we analyse the injuries, you got two high ankle sprains, all sportsmen are in danger of those, I'm sure many of us have had them while playing sports. I played a lot of soccer as a youth and been through that a number of times. The surgery he had on both ankles wasn't required, he could have just rested it and after a few weeks he would be back to normal. The surgery means he's unlikely to get that type of injury again. I'm not downgrading his injury record because those. I don't know a lot about the knee injury, did he have surgery on that or was it just a rest and recuperate situation ? This hip injury is a freak one and as CK pointed out, can be blamed on being rushed back pointlessly by Saban. The big question is will the injury have any long term effects on him ? I really don't think he has shown he is anymore susceptible to injuries than any other player. How do you not want to take a chance, a "swing for the fences" as Alf put it on a player that can change the narrative for this team. The alternative is just doing what we've been doing for the 20 years since Marino and taking the "safe" option to draft the Tannehill's or Henne's or retread FA's.
I would say to everyone that doesn't want to draft Tua now, what's your plan then to fix the QB position? Put yourself out there for scrutiny, instead of ridiculing those that still have faith in Tua's talent. I don't see many other ideas out there, we had a stated intent of blowing things up this year to rebuild. The QB is not just the icing on the cake, he is the fundamental part of the rebuild, we have to address the position, we can't just pick OL and edge rushers in this draft, fixing the rest of the team with a plan to draft a QB in 2021 means you will end up picking the Tannehill's and Henne's again because we'll be nowhere near the top of the draft next year. We are all worried about the injury obviously but with three first round picks and two again next year, we are in a pretty strong position to take that chance.
Something that will be very interesting is if we somehow end up with #1, do we go for the sure thing in Burrow or take a chance on Tua. As a Tua fan, I'm not sure what I would favour, I think both are going to be stars in the league, I think Tua has the highest ceiling but there is a chance than he doesn't reach it.
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