After much debate, it’s been made official. This fake SEC MVP award we give out every year since we launched this brand is going to Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for an outstanding 2017 season.
Honorable Mentions
This was kind of a strange year in the SEC. It doesn’t really feel like there were any real standouts – now, I mean that in the sense that this year didn’t feature that one dude who just single-handedly put his team on his back and carried them to greatness. Drew Lock in 2017 was easy! In 2018, you didn’t really have that guy. The first one that comes to mind, the guy who is probably the closest to Tagovailoa, to me, is Kentucky’s Benny Snell, Jr.. Dude was the heart and soul of that Wildcats offense, but was bottled up at times this season. Same with Texas A&M’s Trayveon Williams.
Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm had a strong showing, but you’re not going to put Fromm over Tagovailoa. Jordan Ta’amu looked great at Ole Miss, but they were never truly in the running for anything. Vanderbilt began to turn its season around when Ke’Shawn Vaughn got more involved with the offense. And, of course, Tagovailoa’s teammate Quinnen Williams looks like he could be the top overall pick in the draft next spring.
All in all, the SoBros team got together and voted, and Tagovailoa won this one pretty convincingly – it really wasn’t ever in question.
Tua Tagovailoa’s SEC MVP case
Tagovailoa finished the season 199/294 for 3,353 yards, 37 touchdowns, and four interceptions. His five rushing touchdowns put him at 42 total touchdowns on the 2018 season. His 202.3 passer rating is second only to Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray in all of the FBS. All of this was done while playing about 75% of the games – Tagovailoa rarely saw a 4th quarter this season, and rarely completed more than 20 passes in a game (actually, it only happened three times this season). Twice this season, he had more touchdown passes than incompletions.
But, beyond the stats, Tagovailoa’s pure arm talent simply looks better than anyone else’s in the SEC. He’s making throws that you’ve never seen Alabama quarterbacks make before. Tagovailoa is already tied (with Jalen Hurts, no less) for second in career passing touchdowns in Tide history with 48. His 37 passing touchdowns are the most from a Tide quarterback in a single season. And his passing yard total is second only to Blake Sims (2014) for a single season. He’s well on his way to become the greatest to ever play the position in program history.
My argument against Tagovailoa winning the MVP, just playing devil’s advocate, was that if you could pull him out of the lineup and the Tide would still go undefeated, how valuable could he really be to his team? But, Poppa Bear countered that by saying, “well, what would Florida or Auburn have looked like with him this year?” That’s probably the best measure of Tagovailoa’s value you can get.
Past Honors
2013 – Tre Mason, Jordan Matthews
2014 – Amari Cooper
2015 – Derrick Henry
2016 – Reuben Foster
2017 – Drew Lock
Catch y’all next season.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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