After a storied career at the University of Alabama and one in which fans saw him lead the Crimson Tide to a national title as a true freshman, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was drafted fifth overall by the Miami Dolphins in the loaded 2020 NFL Draft. Originally considered the consensus number one overall pick, a late season injury at ‘Bama derailed him landing in the top spot in the draft and Walter Camp Award winner fell to the fifth spot where the Dolphins happily chose him.
Playing in ten games, Tagovailoa showed promise, even after some inconsistencies, his rookie year.
Season two was a marked improvement for the young quarterback, seeing all of his offensive numbers jump across the board.
Through the draft and free agency, the Dolphins continue to add weapons to the deep pool in which they swim and Tagovailoa’s numbers leapt out of the water up into elite status last season.
This year, it could be argued that Dolphins offense is even deeper and quite possibly the most lethal in the league with deep water threats like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on top of a bolstered running game. There is no argument that Tagovailoa is coming into his own as a potential NFL MVP candidate.
The question has always been and continues to remain, can he stay on his feet and stay healthy for the duration of a season and over the course of a lengthy career?
If the answer to that question is yes, Tua is a definite buy in the current market as his cards, although his stuff is continuing to climb each week with good performances, are still not quite in line with the other elite quarterbacks of the 2020 Draft.
In our newest Better Than a Box, we offer up four top Tua trading cards you can own for just a few dollars more than a newly released Hobby box of 2023 Panini Mosaic Football.
Mosaic Football hobby checks in the lineup at $400-$450 per box. That used to be an easier pill to swallow when some of the base rookie cards and many of the parallels actually carried value but now, with the oversaturation of the market (thanks in part to a flood of the product in the retail market each and every season), there’s virtually no value in base cards and very limited value even in most of the parallels. So you’re banking on a really rare parallel or one of your two autographs to hit, which generally isn’t going to be the case.
The Graded Rookie Card
We counter that daunting cost by starting our Tua player collection with a nice 2020 Donruss Canvas parallel in a PSA 10 holder. The rookie quarterback, although it appears he is in an airbrushed special effects uniform, is jaunting down the field ready to release one of those rockets from his lofty left hand. The classic Donruss brand is a moderately price, clean, accessible winner in the hobby.
This PSA Gem Mint 10 copy can be had for $55-$65. A great kickoff for our collection.
The Autograph Card
Finding Tua autographs in his NFL uniform for under $150 has been a bit of a challenge since mid-September but this 2022 Shotgun Signatures numbered to 25 fits the bill at $135.
The Memorabilia Card
We really raided the locker room for our memorabilia card when we grabbed every piece of gear on the Panini Encased line from 2020. We choose a quad, multicolored thick, beautiful patch card again from the ‘Phins QB RC year. This one is a stunner as it’s numbered to only 10 copies and each piece of memorabilia offers multi layers, depth and various pieces of a name, plate, logo or jersey stripe, which is striking to say the least. This takes up about $160 of our budget, but is well worth it for one of the better rookie memorabilia cards you can hope to own.
The Parallel
Collectors love color matches and this one really stands out for our fourth and final card. The 2020 Panini Absolute Orange Mosaic parallel rookie is numbered to 149. The orange really sets off the aqua and the mosaic background really sparkles. At $75-$100, it’s a solid wrap on our Tua quartet.
So there you have it. We put up four stunning cards of a super hot MVP candidate–including three high quality rookies–or you can play the really long odds on a box mostly full of cards you’ll find in the quarter boxes at your local card show. As always, the choice is yours.
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