BamaInsider Top 40 for 2018: Tua Tagovailoa is Tide's most important player

For the second straight year, a quarterback tops the list. Tua Tagovailoa is still battling last year’s No. 1, Jalen Hurts, for the starting quarterback role heading into the season. So why does the sophomore get the nod on our list?

Potential.

The truth is, Tagovailoa is still somewhat of an unknown. He was the hero of the national championship game, coming on in the second half to bring Alabama back from a two-score deficit by completing 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning 41-yard strike to DeVonta Smith in overtime. However, that is his only meaningful appearance to date.

Tagovailoa appeared in nine games as a freshman, mostly coming in during mop-up duty. He completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 636 yards with 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions. Those numbers are great by any standard, but what vaults the young quarterback to No. 1 is the style in which he played when he entered the game.