Eagles Draft Preview: Ranking Top 10 QBs; Philly All-In with Jalen Hurts
PHILADELPHIA - What a difference a year makes.
In 12 calendar months, the Philadelphia Eagles went from trying to convince Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson that Philadelphia was the cat’s meow to willingly wanting to pay Jalen Hurts somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million per season on a looming contract extension.
In between, Hurts, 24, went from question mark to exclamation point, finishing 14-1 as the Eagles' starting quarterback in the regular season before dispensing of the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers to win an NFC championship.
The fourth-year pro then perhaps played his best game in a losing effort to Kansas City in Super Bowl LVII, playing runner-up to Patrick Mahomes just like he did in the MVP race.
Hurts was actually the better quarterback in the big game save for one back-breaking fumble, throwing for 304 yards and a touchdown, and adding another 70 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, the latter two numbers being Super Bowl records.
With Aaron Rodgers believed to be relocating to the AFC’s New York Jets before the start of the 2023 season, it’s almost a stipulation now that Hurts is the best quarterback in the NFC. The two-year Howie Roseman plan of building up draft capital in case the Eagles needed a quarterback should Hurts falter has now been successfully memory-holed.
There was a change at backup quarterback, however, with Gardner Minshew leaving to rejoin former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen with the Indianapolis Colts.
Arguably, Philadelphia got better by shifting toward Marcus Mariota on a one-year, $5 million deal, eight years after he was all the rage in town when Chip Kelly was doing everything he could to move up and draft Mariota at No. 2 overall in 2015.
Mariota never lived up to that hype of course and flamed out as a starter after five seasons with the Tennessee Titans before finally getting a second chance with the Atlanta Falcons last season, which went south after a 5-8 start to the season.
As a backup, though, Mariota projects as one of the more accomplished in the league with 74 career starts.
Hurts missed one game due to injury in 2021 and two last season so the odds are that Mariota will at least get a small opportunity to play and his skill set is closer to Hurts’ than Minshew’s was meaning the coaching staff won’t have to dramatically shift the offense if they are forced to play Mariota.
Ian Book, the former record-setting quarterback from Notre Dame who was a fourth-round pick of New Orleans in 2021, is in line to be the developmental quarterback.
The Eagles claimed Book off waivers on Aug. 30 of last year with a recommendation by Tommy Rees, the former Fighting Irish, and current Alabama offensive coordinator, weighing heavily on the decision. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is very close to Rees.
This will be Book’s first full training camp with the Eagles. He has some limitations from a traits perspective but as a third-team quarterback, you could do a lot worse.
DRAFT DAY BOTTOM LINE: This is Hurts’ team now and the Eagles have shifted from a safety-net philosophy with their draft capital to doing everything to maximize the championship window with the QB1, meaning the position won’t even enter the consciousness of the organization until Day 3 of the process and perhaps not even until undrafted free agency.
EAGLES QB DEPTH CHART:
QB1 Jalen Hurts; QB2 Marcus Mariota; QB3 Ian Book
EAGLES TODAY TOP 10 (we asked three former NFL scouts for their top 10 at the position and came up with a cumulative list):
1. Bryce Young, Alabama
2. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State
3. Anthony Richardson, Florida
4. Will Levis, Kentucky
5. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
6. Tanner McKee, Stanford
7. Jaren Hall, BYU
8. Aidan O’Connell, Purdue
9. Jake Haener, Fresno State
10. Stetson Bennett, Georgia
Sleeper - Tyson Bagent, Shepherd
Boom or Bust - Anthony Richardson, Florida
BUILDING THE PERFECT QB
Accuracy - C.J. Stroud, Ohio State - Stroud completed nearly 70 percent of his passes over his 25 starts with the Buckeyes and the advanced numbers have his catchable passes at nearly 80 percent. Even in an offense where he was throwing to open receivers much of the time, that’s impressive.
Arm Talent - Anthony Richardson, Florida - You could argue Richardson or Will Levis but the lean goes to the Florida star because he’s got a little more functional upside with the ability to attack all three levels with any throw you need.
Setup/Release - Jake Haener, Fresno State - The mechanics aren't always the best with Haener but he’s very cognizant of getting the football out on time and will use multiple arm angles to do it.
Extending Plays - Anthony Richardson, Florida - Richardson can hurt you with designed runs or with off-schedule stuff. He’s also a Justin Field-like home run threat with 4.43 speed.
Football IQ - Bryce Young, Alabama - Young learned well at Alabama and can read things seamlessly pre-snap and process quickly post-snap to deal with the proliferation of the Vic Fangio-inspired defenses around the NFL.
Intangibles - Jake Haener, Fresno State - Haener is a Taylor Heinicke type. He’s limited physically but his a pain in the you-know-what because he’s always pushing and finding ways to make plays.
PRE-DRAFT PROCESS NOTES:
-The Eagles used a top-30 visit on UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson after also meeting with him at the combine. That’s the only known QB prospect that the Eagles spent time really getting to know.
Eagles Potential Picks:
Day 1 - None.
Day 2 - None.
-Hurts is an MVP threat and Mariota has tons of experience as the backup. There is no need to even think about the position in Rounds 1 through 3 for Philadelphia.
Day 3 - Dorian Thompson-Robinson
-In a perfect world, Thompson-Robinson could be a Day 3 pick and turn into a long-term cost-effective backup for Hurts after Mariota leaves. He’s a four-year starter at the collegiate level and takes very good care of the football, a must for Sirianni.
The problem is that the Eagles enter the process with a big hole between the third and seventh rounds and "DTR" will be gone by Round 7 so if Roseman really wants him, he will have to add some mid-round draft picks somewhere along the way.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
