You say, "I doubt many, if any QBs would have gone through the season unscathed behind that line last season," but again, Tua isn't hit that often due to his quick release. So the line doesn't matter. It matters in terms of having time to throw the ball, but in terms of sustaining injury it doesn't. Tua doesn't get hit often, but it's a real problem with his body type when he does.
Tua was hit 24x, which is 29th most in the league. For comparison's sake, Brissett was also hit 24x in 5 games started. Josh Allen hit 64x, Tannehill hit 64x, Herbert hit 61x, Mac Jones hit 47x ect...
Nov 16, 2019 | Non-NFL | Inguinal Hip Strain | Tagovailoa suffered a dislocated right hip in the second quarter vs. Mississippi State and underwent successful surgery. He missed the rest of the season. |
Mar 20, 2018 | Non-NFL | Hand Finger Fracture | Tagovailoa suffered an injury to his left throwing hand when he hit his hand on a lineman’s helmet. He underwent surgery |
Oct 13, 2018 | Non-NFL | Knee Patella Sprain | Tagovailoa tweaked his knee after sliding on a play in the third quarter during the Missouri game on Oct. 13. He was available for the next game |
Nov 10, 2018 | Non-NFL | Leg Quad Strain | Tagovailoa suffered a quad injury late in the third quarter during the game against Mississippi State. He was available for the next game vs. the Citadel |
Dec 1, 2018 | Non-NFL | Pedal Ankle (high) Sprain Grade 3 | Tagovailoa suffered a left ankle injury against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game vs. Georgia. He underwent surgery to repair his ankle. |
Oct 19, 2019 | NFL | Pedal Ankle (high) Sprain Grade 3 | Tagovailoa injured his right ankle during Alabama's win over Tennessee. He underwent a successful tight-rope procedure and missed one game |
Nov 25, 2020 | NFL | Hand Thumb Sprain | Tagovailoa missed the Week 12 game against the Jets as he suffered a thumb injury in practice. |
Sep 19, 2021 | NFL | Chest Rib Fracture | Tagovailoa suffered fractured ribs during the Week 2 game against the Bills. He was placed on IR and missed three games |
Nov 3, 2021 | NFL | Hand Finger Fracture | Tagovailoa missed the Week 9 game due to a small fracture in the middle finger of his throwing hand. |
I don't think it's likely that Tua will be any more injury prone than your typical NFL QB. It's simplistic to just list injuries and make a conclusion. The types of injuries matter as some are more likely to suggest a continuing problem vs. others that are more of a "freak" injury. In my experience, I see soft-tissue injuries as tending to recur. That's why I never had much faith in Parker becoming a reliable starter. Ankle sprains can also be injuries that repeat, but players who have under gone the tight rope surgery actually show the opposite trend. They don't tend to have repeat ankle sprains. Fractures, like ribs, fingers or that hip fracture tend to be freak accidents and don't show any higher propensity to recur. So looking at the injuries Tua has had in his career I don't see a reasonable basis to believe that he will be any more injury prone than other NFL QBs.
I also don't expect that his style of play going forward is one that is likely to put him in harms way more more often. He'll probably play a similar game to what Drew Brees played. A smaller QB with similar foot speed. It was not a red-flag that prevented him from having a HOF career.
Many ppl would say reads and progressions are his strong suit. To be fair, IMO it's impossible to fairly judge that aspect from last year's play. When 75% of passing down plays are a jailbreak by the opposing Dline, the guy didn't have all that much opportunity to sit back there while route combos developed as designed.We shall see! Hopefully he can change the narrative and play a full season without missing a game.
Durability is definitely concerning regarding him. Then of course is his mental processing. This has always been the most concerning part of his game to me.
If he remains healthy his time won't last long if he's mentally lagging and unable to process the field with ease beyond his first read. So yeah, I want to see his poise and mental acuity on display more than anything else! Hopefully the McDaniel effect will have a positive influence with this one.
IMO play style is a much bigger factor. Basically, if you take more hits, you're more likely to be injured. Since I expect Tua to play a similar style to what Brees played (Getting the ball out quickly, basically being a point guard, minimal running into other players) I see Brees as a very apt and appropriate comparison. And in terms of size I agree that it's not equivalent to durability, but I was responding to a post that stated that size was a factor.Just to play Devils Advocate, being the same size doesn't imply the same durability on the same hit. Even two people of the exact same height and weight might have completely different durability thresholds.
I'm not saying he isn't going to be durable, I just don't thin sneaking in a Brees comparison adds to this discussion at all.