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Tua Tagovailoa may have fallen just shy of winning the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore at Alabama, but there is no reason to believe he won't be right in the thick of the race again in 2019.

As a junior with all those weapons around him, including Biletnikoff Award-winning receiver Jerry Jeudy and stud first-year phenom Jaylen Waddle, Tagovailoa should be the maestro to yet another dynamic Crimson Tide offense.

If Kyler Murray turns pro in football or baseball, and Dwayne Haskins follows through with the NFL draft as expected, Tagovailoa will be the runaway favorite.

This year, he completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 3,353 yards, 37 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Had he played full games earlier in the year when Alabama was blowing everyone out, he certainly would have padded those numbers even more.

Late in the year, however, he battled injuries that kept him from finishing some games, and as the Tide came back to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, Tagovailoa stood on the sideline as backup (and former starter) Jalen Hurts was the hero. That may have been the game that sealed his fate as the runner-up.

Tagovailoa lost gracefully, and while it's mostly because he is a class act, it also has something to do with having unfinished business. Alabama is undefeated and marching toward another national title, but it has to get through Murray and the Sooners in the semifinals first.

He has to return to Tuscaloosa at least one more season, and '19 looks like it could be his year to win college football's top individual honor if he can remain healthy and keep maturing.

Obviously, some of that has to do with whom he meshes with following the departure of offensive coordinator Mike Locksley to become Maryland's head coach, but if Alabama promotes quarterbacks coach Dan Enos to the position, it will help that he has a standing relationship with Tagovailoa. It could be another big year at the Capstone.

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of Sports Reference and CFBStats.com.

Brad Shepard covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @Brad_Shepard.