Tua Tagovailoa Somehow Not Included as 1st-Team All-American by Sporting News
By Ryan Flores
Someone at the Sporting News clearly has a Clemson bias.
On Wednesday, the Sporting News released their 2019 preseason College Football All-American team, and Alabama Crimson Tide players Jerry Jeudy and Dylan Moses were both named to the first-team. However, Alabama's most high-profile player was notably missing.
Alabama has two Sporting News first-team preseason All-Americans, but Tua Tagovailoa isn't among them. https://t.co/VjzMhmzSX8 pic.twitter.com/a0o6Q77OoU
— AL.com (@aldotcom) July 3, 2019
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence took the first-team honors over Heisman Trophy finalist Tua Tagovailoa, who earned second-team honors. This is likely due to the fact that Lawrence bested Tagovailoa and the Crimson Tide in the National Championship Game.
SN's 2019 CFB preseason All-Americans:
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 3, 2019
QB: Trevor Lawrence — @ClemsonFB
RB: Travis Etienne — @ClemsonFB
RB: Jonathan Taylor — @BadgerFootball
WR: Jerry Jeudy — @AlabamaFTBL
WR: Tylan Wallace — @CowboyFB
? MORE ?https://t.co/r8xTgjc7Na
Just because Lawrence beat Tua in the title game doesn't mean that he deserves first-team honors over him. In 2018, Lawrence put together 3,280 yards with 30 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, and finished with a 157.6 passing efficiency rating. Tua, on the other hand, finished with an absurd 3,966 yards with 43 touchdowns and six interceptions to go with a 199.4 passing efficiency rating.
How was Trevor better than Tua in the eyes of Sporting News?
The SEC featured a slew of excellent deep-passers but none was better than Tua Tagovailoa. pic.twitter.com/U9q4bPRVQ1
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 30, 2019
Tagovailoa was clearly more deserving of first-team honors. Yes, Lawrence beat him in the last game of the season, but he didn't have a better overall season than Tua. It just doesn't make sense.