Four-star class of 2019 quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa committed to Alabama on Saturday, the day of the Tide’s annual spring game. He’ll arrive in Tuscaloosa two years behind his older brother, Tua, who came off the bench to win Bama the national title in January.
Tua Tagovailoa’s little brother committed to Bama. He’s a different kind of QB, but he’s really good.
Taulia Tagovailoa’s more of a drop-back passer, but he has some of the same traits that made his brother a champion.
Taulia isn’t quite the hyped recruit Tua was in the class of 2017. Tua was a five-star prospect and the consensus No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in his year. Taulia is a four-star, ranked as the No. 6 pro-style QB in the class, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Taulia is Alabama’s second quarterback commit in the 2019 class. The other is four-star Paul Tyson, a great-grandson of Bear Bryant. The Tide are keeping this position in the family.
The main difference between Tua and Taulia is their style of play.
As the recruiting services indicated by how they classified them, Tua’s a bit more of a runner than Taulia. The younger brother is closer to a drop-back, traditionally pro-style QB, though pretty much every QB recruit now has to be able to use his legs a bit.
“I guess we both spin it,” Taulia told SB Nation at a recruiting camp in Charlotte in the spring of 2017. “He has his style, and I have my style.”
What’s Taulia’s style?
“Pocket passer with the ability to extend plays.”
Alabama offered Taulia a scholarship in the summer of 2016, before Tua had even arrived on campus (though Tua had already been verbally committed).
Tua played his high school football in Hawaii. Taulia has played his in Alabaster, Ala. The family moved to Alabama around the time Tua enrolled at school in Tuscaloosa.
A handful of the best quarterbacks in the country over the last few years have hailed from Hawaii, and Taulia has a chance to add to that legacy just as Tua is doing the same.
Assuming Taulia holds his commitment, his freshman season will be Tua’s junior season. It would be Jalen Hurts’ senior year, unless Tua’s presence leads Hurts to transfer.
