Former Alabama Player to Watch in Fantasy Football Week 10: Tua Tagovailoa

Everything you need for Week 10 in fantasy football, including who to play and who to sit

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Nov 13, 2020 3:00 PM EST

Tua Tagovailoa is off to a 2-0 start and fantasy owners are wondering if its time to insert him into their starting lineups this week.

The short answer is yes, and not just because of Tagovailoa's performance last week.

The former Alabama quarterback completed 20 of 28 passes (71.4 percent) for 248 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals. He didn't have an interception, posted a 122.3 passer rating, and rushed for 35 yards.

Sunday, he'll be home against a team that had to travel all the way across the country (which is often a factor) and has given up its fair share of passing touchdowns this season.

Moreover, the game has been played up as a showdown of top-notch rookie quarterbacks.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was the sixth overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. He leads all rookies with 17 touchdown passes and ranks second among rookies with 2,146 passing yards. With at least two touchdown passes on Sunday, he'll become the first rookie with at least two touchdown passes in six consecutive games in NFL history.

Tagovailoa was the fifth-overall pick by the Dolphins. He's passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions for a 103.8 passer rating in his first two career starts. He can become the first rookie quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2018 to win his first three career starts.

The record for most combined passing yards in a matchup featuring two rookie starting quarterbacks each selected in the top 10 of the NFL Draft in the common-draft era (yes, they actually keep track of that kind of thing) is 723 yards when Andrew Luck (433 yards) squared off against Ryan Tannehill (290) in 2012.

There's a big drop-off after that, though, to second, 419 yards between Jameis Winston (210) and Marcus Mariota (209) in 2015.

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