Tua Tagovailoa is going to the Miami Dolphins.
Miami selected the former Alabama quarterback with the first of the team's three first-round NFL Draft picks Thursday night.
Tagovailoa, who was the second quarterback chosen behind former LSU and 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, threw for 7,442 yards and 87 touchdowns with just 11 interceptions in his college career. But he suffered a season-ending injury in November that likely derailed his chances of being the No. 1 overall pick.
"There were a lot of good players at the position," second-year head coach Brian Flores told reporters. "We talked about every one of them. We did our homework on every one of them. We've been in Zoom meetings for multiple days, multiple weeks. At the end of the day, we felt like that was the best choice for the Miami Dolphins."
The 22-year-old led the Crimson Tide to a national championship as a freshman after replacing Jalen Hurts in the second half of the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship and helped them reach the title game against Clemson as a sophomore.
Tagovailoa's arrival likely makes last year's starters, Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick, expendable.
The Dolphins have had 21 different starting quarterbacks since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season.
Rosen was a first-round pick of Arizona in 2018, but he was traded to Miami last April after the Cardinals drafted former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray first overall.
Fitzpatrick signed with the Dolphins in March 2019 and started 13 games last season.
Flores said it's premature to know whether Tagovailoa would see the field in 2020.
"I think it's way too early to speculate on this year and how this is going to go," he said. "You guys know we like to take a one-day-at-a-time approach anyway."
The Dolphins, who have the most picks in this year's draft, also selected Southern California offensive tackle Austin Jackson at No. 18 and Auburn cornerback Noah Igbinoghene at No. 30.
Jackson anchored the offensive line for the Trojans last season and was named to the All-Pacific 12 Conference first team.
The Dolphins traded back from the No. 26 spot with the Green Bay Packers to acquire a fourth-round pick. Miami used the 30th pick in the draft to select Igbinoghene, who began his college career at wide receiver before switching to cornerback in 2018.
Igbinoghene finished with 92 tackles and one interception for the Tigers.
