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Mike Locksley hails QB Taulia Tagovailoa as ‘most underrated’ in CFB
By Michael Daly
Published:
Maryland head coach Mike Locksley called quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa the most underrated player in college football.
Locksley praised his QB for his growth and his skills. The 2021 season was a breakout campaign for Tagovailoa as he helped Maryland reach the Pinstripe Bowl.
During his time at the B1G Media Days, Locksley praised Tagovailoa as a catalyst on offense for his team:
“Taulia Tagovailoa returns for a third season after breaking numerous Maryland football records. I don’t think there’s a more underrated player in the country than Taulia Tagovailoa, and I’ll continue to say it, as he’s a guy that has really been the catalyst to making us go on offense,” Locksley said.
In 2021, Tagovailoa passed for 3,860 yards with 26 touchdowns. His coach saw tremendous growth in his development as a quarterback:
“The biggest thing with Taulia, as we talk about in our program, every player has a shelf life, meaning when the play is over, it dies. For Taulia, he’s a guy that puts a lot of pressure on himself. There’s nobody that has more expectations than he does,” Locksley said. “And what we’ve seen him do here from I say midpoint of last season on, is I’ve seen a maturity in how he manages himself, whether it’s a good play, not letting that good play get him too high, or if it’s a bad play, not letting it get him too low. We like to keep him at that neutral position. I see a growth out of him. I see a comfort level in our system. That’s probably one area we want to see him improve in is just the emotional maturity, and we’ve seen that out of Taulia.”
As Tagovailoa enters his third season with the Terrapins, he will look to help his team return to a bowl game.