Jalen Hurts Selected by Eagles With No. 53 Pick in NFL Draft
The Philadelphia Eagles have selected quarterback Jalen Hurts with the No. 53 pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Hurts tallied 3,851 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions during his senior season at Oklahoma and led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff semifinal. He transferred to Oklahoma after playing three seasons at Alabama. Hurts was relegated to a backup role behind Tua Tagovailoa in his junior year after starting his first two seasons and leading the Tide to two consecutive national championship game appearances in 2016 and 2017.
Sooners transfer quarterbacks have seen success in recent years with both Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley found a way to fit both into his program after Mayfield arrived from Texas Tech and Murray moved from Texas A&M. The Browns selected Mayfield with the overall No. 1 pick in 2018 and the Cardinals took Murray with the top pick in 2019.
"We said we were always going to be about the quarterback position," Eagles GM Howie Roseman said in his post-selecton media availability. "Our goal is to surround [Wentz] with as many good people as we possibly can, as many good players as we possibly can."
The Eagles went 9-7 in 2019, losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card Round. Hurts will backup quarterback Carson Wentz, who threw for 4,039 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season.
