Alabama Football: Is Mac Jones really better than Tua Tagovailoa?

Looking back at the 2019 season for Alabama football, things took a turn for the worse when Tua Tagovailoa went down with an injury and needed to be replaced by Mac Jones.

But as it turns out, Jones was pretty darn good and according to Heisman winner and fellow national champion Devonta Smith, Jones is even better than Tagovailoa, the current quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.

This is via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated who said that NFL teams asked Smith to compare the two quarterbacks and apparently, there wasn’t much of a comparison in his mind. Here’s the quote via Dolphins Wire:

"“…maybe the most interesting anecdote I could possibly give you on (Mac Jones) from that week in Mobile comes from his Heisman Trophy-winning receiver DeVonta Smith. One team asked Smith, point blank: ‘Tua Tagovailoa or (Mac) Jones?’ The question was barely finished before Smith answered: Mac Jones. He was bold and definitive about it, as I heard it.”"

Tua burst onto the scene back in the 2017 season when he came off the bench to lead Alabama to a win in the national championship game against Georgia.

He then led Alabama football to the national title game again the following season but the Crimson Tide were beaten by Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers.

In 2019, Tua put together another hugely productive season but couldn’t lead Bama to win over Joe Burrow and LSU and was later hurt. Mac Jones finished the season as the starter, but threw two interceptions in a loss to Auburn.

Back then, a debate about who was better: Jones or Tua would have seemed silly. But after Jones completed 77.5 percent of his passes for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns in 13 games last season, it’s a much more open question.

For his career, Jones threw 56 touchdowns compared to just seven picks. He led Bama to an SEC title and a national title. Tua also led Bama to the SEC and national championships and finished his career with 87 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, however, obviously played more.

The debate about their college careers is pretty interesting but in terms of who will make the better NFL quarterback, Jones might be viewed as having more upside as a more traditional quarterback.

Tua did throw for 11 touchdowns and five interceptions as a rookie for the Dolphins, who have the No. 3 overall pick but there have been trade rumors flying around, so it appears that Miami isn’t that enamored with Tua.

And in terms of playing with him at the next level, it doesn’t sound like Smith is either.