Report: Tagovailoa still projected to be 2020 1st-round draft pick

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is expected to make a full recovery from his season-ending hip injury and, if he decides to enter the 2020 NFL Draft, is still expected to be a first-round draft pick, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports, citing five high-ranking NFL executives.

Those sources project Tagovailoa as a pick in the first half of the opening round. Prior to the injury, he was expected to be one of the first names called on draft day.

The junior quarterback underwent surgery on Monday for an injury suffered last Saturday. Though Tagovailoa suffered a dislocated hip and a reported posterior wall fracture, he's expected to resume football activities in three months and could throw for NFL teams before the draft, Rapoport reports.

None of the NFL executives Rapoport spoke with believe Tagovailoa will fall out of the first round. One of them said his best-case scenario involves falling to a team with a veteran quarterback he could sit behind, while another executive could see a team moving up to select Tagovailoa anywhere from the 10th to 12th overall pick.

The lefty passer could also return to school for his senior year, whether he chooses to play football for the Crimson Tide again or not.