Southpaw Slinger: Can Tua Become a Top 5 Lefty?

It’s been 5 years since the last lefty quarterback threw a touchdown in the NFL. Tua Tagovailoa was the first lefty quarterback to throw a touchdown since Kellen Moore threw for 435 yards and 3 touchdowns in week 17 of the 2015-2016 season.

Although Tua won his first career game on Sunday in a largely defensive performance by the Dolphins(4-3), he threw a few very well placed balls, including a 3 yard touchdown to Devante Parker, which was the lowest separation on a touchdown pass all season with .28 yards of separation. Talk about accuracy! Based off of this performance, where will Tua rank among all lefty quarterbacks?

Steve Young, Boomer Esiason, Mike Vick, and Ken Stabler are who I have found to be the top 4 lefty quarterbacks of all time, but will Tua earn himself a spot on this list and make it a top 5 list?

1.       Steve Young has earned himself the number one spot on this list as a Hall of Famer who has 7 Pro Bowl appearances, is a 3-time super bowl champ, and has won league MVP 2 times.

2.      Boomer Esiason receives the title of second best lefty of all time. He is a 4-time Pro Bowler with all-time records for lefty quarterbacks such as 247 Touchdown passes, 37,920 passing yards, and 2,969 completions. Esiason was also a 1-time league MVP.

3.      Michael Vick was the best running quarterback of all time and the third best lefty quarterback of all time. He is a 4-time Pro Bowler and has the most career rushing yards by a quarterback ever with 6,109 and was the first ever quarterback to get 1,000 rushing yards in a season.

4.      The fourth spot belongs to Ken Stabler (The Snake) for now, but if Tua plays to his expectations, he can easily take this spot and possibly move even higher on this list. Ken Stabler is a Hall Of Famer, 4-time Pro Bowler, 1-Time league MVP, and has 1 Super Bowl win.

5.      My prediction for Tua Tagovailoa is that he will be the Phins first star quarterback since Marino, along with the fifth best lefty quarterback of all time. I think his throw accuracy is already among the best in the league. If he can keep his cool in the NFL, he will easily be an all-time great.

Aidan Scully (@AScullySports) is a new contributor to Five Reasons Sports Network.