Are Taulia Tagovailoa and Tua Tagovailoa Related? A Look at the Football Brothers

While Tua Tagovailoa is currently in the midst of a successful career in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, Taulia Tagovailoa is in his senior season at Maryland and vying for a spot in the 2024 NFL Draft. We’re examining the two’s kinship and relationship on and off the field.

Are Taulia Tagovailoa and Tua Tagovailoa Related?

Taulia and Tua Tagovailoa are brothers. Tua is older, born on March 2, 1998, while Taulia was born on Feb. 26, 2000. Both began their collegiate careers at Alabama, with Tua spending three seasons in Tuscaloosa from 2017-2019.

Taulia spent only one season with Tua at Alabama before the elder sibling jumped to the NFL. The younger Tagovailoa sought an opportunity elsewhere to carve out his legacy, following Alabama’s co-offensive coordinator to Maryland after the 2019 season.

The 5’11”, 205-pounder quickly established himself as a program star in his second season as a starter. He threw for 3,860 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while completing 69.2% of his attempts.

His 2022 season was almost as dynamic in one less game, compiling 3,008 yards, 18 touchdowns, and eight interceptions on a 67% completion rate.

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Tagovailoa was offered “crazy money” to transfer back to the SEC over this past offseason but turned down a reported $1.5 million to finish his career at Maryland.

Previously, he said his older brother is “…motivation seeing him go out there and playing in the NFL, starting in the NFL and do really good, so it’s motivation for me, and that’s something that I strive to be like.”

Taulia Tagovailoa’s Scouting Report

Find out more about Tagovailoa’s 2024 NFL Draft prospects in his full scouting report.

Strengths

• Flashes impressive velocity in the short ranges and over the middle of the field.
• Showcases the necessary arm elasticity to adjust his arm angles on short throws.
• Can keep his shoulders level and maintain velocity when working off-platform.
• Above-average athlete who has enough speed to evade rushers and reach the sideline.
• Can levy quick one-cut movements to offset defenders in space and get extra yards.
• Has enough hip flexibility to torque his midsection while rolling across his body.
• Steps up to avoid looping rushers, and can seep into space through outlets.
• Able to keep his eyes forward on his drop and look off safeties, opening the boundary.

• Has shown he can work left to right and trigger on open second reads with urgency.
• Has the patience and discretion to wait for optimal second-window throws.
• Has shown to climb the pocket and use controlled shoulder tilt on deep passes.
• Overall, has solid rotational mechanics and areal accuracy, giving WRs chances.
• Possesses a good feel for trajectory manipulation and lofts throws into buckets.
• Savvy veteran with good awareness and ball handling on play-actions and options.
• Tough competitor who plays to win and puts it all on the line in high-pressure moments.

Weaknesses

• Arm strength is near average; velocity doesn’t consistently carry down the field.
• Athleticism, while above average, is not elite and cannot be an offensive centerpiece.
• Deep passes float and lose pace, allowing defenders to regain positioning underneath.
• Can be over-zealous and test tight windows that he doesn’t have the arm to challenge.
• Footwork can be staggered on his drop, and heel clicks sometimes lock out his hips.
• Base can be a bit too narrow in-phase, causing lopsided shoulder alignment on release.
• Sometimes kicks up back foot on release, tipping front shoulder and causing low misses.
• Release can be somewhat winding and concentric, delaying throw arrival times.
• Doesn’t always have the necessary poise to trigger on open WRs with pressure coming.
• Sometimes needs receivers to be completely open before triggering.
• Field vision and anticipation can be more consistent.