'Disrespect Season' Didn't Take One Last Swipe At Eagles' Star

Jalen Hurts was ranked No. 9 in ESPN's annual poll of league executives, coaches, and scouts.

Jun 10, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) addresses media during a press conference at NovaCare Complex. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - Four-for-four is a familiar slogan in Philadelphia amongst the city’s passionate sports fans.

If you want to join the club, the Eagles can be your passion, but you’ve got to keep your Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers dues up to date if you want to be a real Philadelphia fan. Some will even extend the membership to the MLS’ Union, who play in nearby Chester, PA.

That’s five different seasons to check in on, and there is a hidden sixth – “disrespect season” – which ends in a week when the Super Bowl LIX champions officially get back to work by reporting for training camp on July 22.

Disrespect season is going out like a lion for some, with Jeremy Fowler’s annual poll of executives, coaches, and scouts chiming in on the best players. 

Monday was quarterback day, and Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts was ranked No. 9 per league insiders.

We’re skipping the disrespect because Hurts was not at his best in the 2024-25 season, and pulled a Sugar Ray Leonard on many observers with a brilliant late flurry in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LIX.

For those not familiar with boxing history, late in his career, Leonard, one of the greatest fighters of his era, was somewhat famous (or infamous to those who didn’t like him) for playing defense for 2 ½ minutes before unleashing his signature quickness over the final 30 seconds or so to “steal” rounds.

The strategy was built on the foundation of human nature and the belief that most weigh what they see last very heavily.

By no means was Hurts purposefully engaging in that kind of strategy, but his late flurry on big stages made many forget the eight sub-200-yard passing games and the fact that Hurts was ranked No. 23 by Pro Football Focus in the passing aspect of his job. So, bottom 10 in the league.

Overall, Hurts was ranked 12th in the NFL by PFF after coming in No. 8 in 2023 and No. 4 in 2022, by far his best individual season.

Framing things that way, finishing No. 9 overall by industry insiders is hardly a stretch nor disrespectful because the top 10 is pretty damn good.  

Also, there is one aspect of Hurts’ finish that is overlooked when it comes to thoughts of executives and coaches, particularly.

The Eagles’ run-first offense is an anomaly in the NFL, and most around the league do not want to follow in Philadelphia’s footsteps when it comes to style or scheme.

That means most of the people Fowler was talking to prefer different styles of QBs, and that’s going to push Hurts down a few notches.

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