The Detroit Lions must draft Tua Tagovailoa if healthy

The Detroit Lions aren’t looking for a quarterback. But the choice of Tua Tagovailoa could mean making this team a real contender for the next decade.

The Detroit Lions need defensive help. They are horrible on defense, despite the fact that their head coach, Matt Patricia, is supposed to specialize on that side of the ball.

But, and this is painful even in the written form, the Lions need to seriously consider a special talent like Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the third overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

On Tuesday, Mike Greenberg of ESPN’s Get Up talked about Tua’s decision to enter the draft. Mike was complimentary of Tagovailoa’s abilities, personality, and the ‘it factor’ that he seems to possess.

But Greenberg also discussed the very thing that would frighten NFL teams from drafting Tagovailoa. The quarterback prospect is coming off a major injury, a dislocated hip with a posterior wall fracture according to Sports Illustrated.

Here’s what Greenberg had to say about Tua during the first hour of the Get Up podcast on Tuesday.

"“If there is one thing we have seen historically, players who get hurt in college tend to get hurt again in the pros. So, if you had to bet your career as a general manager on this guy staying healthy for a decade, would you be willing to do it?”"

Lions general manager Bob Quinn needs to take that bet. If Tagovailoa comes out of the medical assessments and is still a top 10 prospect, the Lions cannot pass on drafting him.

To be fair, the best choice for the Lions would be Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. But Young will probably be taken one slot above the Lions at number two by the Washington Redskins – a team that beat Detroit, but was a half-game worse in the standings because of the Lions season-opening tie with the Arizona Cardinals.

The draft process needs to play out and maybe another defensive player will emerge over the next few months. But barring that, this team is in desperate need of an impact player at the quarterback position – even more than a pass rusher.