Plenty to Like About Jalen Hurts the Player
It’s the next day now, and things always seem clearer in the light of day.
So it is with Jalen Hurts.
The Eagles turned the NFL world upside down, not to mention their own organization when they selected the Oklahoma/Alabama quarterback in the second round of the draft on Friday night.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, the Eagles power trio of Howie Roseman, Andy Weidl, and Doug Pederson met again with reporters via conference call to put a cap on Day Two of the 2020 NFL Draft.
A little more light was shed on the surprising pick of a quarterback, at that time.
Weidl, the team’s VP of player personnel, said it best when the group was asked again about Hurts. It took some prodding from Roseman, though, to get to what Weidl said when they were deciding to take Hurts.
“Andy, can you give your line because I think you said it better than I've ever heard it said,” requested Roseman.
Weidl then said: “It's just the insurance policy. No one in the league, no team knows the value of an insurance policy at quarterback more than we do after what we went through in the 2017 season and what we experienced. It's adding a good football player, and we're excited for Jalen Hurts to be here.”
There it is. Hurts is the insurance policy to protect against Carson Wentz’s chronic inability to stay healthy.
And that’s OK.
“When (Weidl) said that I think (Pederson) and I will say it even goes further than that,” said Roseman. “It really goes back to 2000 since I've been here. It is worth its weight in gold. It helps you sleep better at night to have these three quarterbacks (with Nate Sudfeld in the mix). And these three quarterbacks, man, they are great people. They are really good players, and they're great teammates.”
Maybe too much emphasis is being on the wrong thing, and that's how it will impact Wentz or how much of a role he will have this season.
There is no predicting the future regarding whether or not Wentz will stay healthy, but Hurts' talent suggests there will be a role this year and beyond.
Hurts is an intriguing prospect that will be fun to watch develop. The dynamic he will bring and the relationship he will forge with Wentz and the rest of the players in that locker room will be equally fun to observe.
There’s no doubt Hurts was a highly successful QB, first at Alabama then at Oklahoma.
He became the first freshman to start at quarterback at Alabama in 32 years when he took over in the second game for Blake Barnett.
Hurts threw for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions. His completion percentage was at 62.8 percent, and he finished the season with a quarterback rating of 139.12. He rushed for a total of 954 yards and 13 touchdowns, breaking the school single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback.
“I went into Alabama a 17-year-old freshman, early enrollee, thrown right into the fire, and as a young kid, was able to have success,” said Hurts. “I took steps every year, took steps every year, even with the different coaches every year in and out. Continued to take steps and develop and develop and develop, regardless of what the circumstances were.”
Hurts went through ups and downs, getting benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, then re-emerging when Tagavailoa got hurt and leading the Tide to the SEC championship. He helped Alabama win a national title in 2018 then left for Oklahoma in 2019.
In the process, he played for five different offensive coordinators at the two schools.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said on ESPN that he is looking forward to how Hurts is able to develop with stability at the OC spot.
As it was, Hurts did extremely well as a dual-threat.
In his career, he completed 65 percent of his throws for 9,477 yards with 80 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He ran for 3,274 yards and 43 scores.
In his one season with the Sooners, Hurts was a Heisman Trophy runner-up to LSU’s Joe Burrow after a season in which Hurts completed 69.7 percent of his passes for with 32 touchdowns and added another 1,298 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground.
“He's part of the new guard, the mobile quarterbacks in the league that can win throwing it or running it, and just an uncanny toughness, poise and his competitiveness,” said Weidl. “A natural leader that's led two major college football programs to conference championships and in playoff games. His starting record speaks for itself.
“He's just very poised in the pocket. He's an excellent runner, he can throw on the move. He's done it on the big stage, and there have been some times that really stood out with him.”
Weidl referenced the 2018 season when Hurts came off the bench to help the Tide win the SEC title and this year, playing with the Sooners, recovering from a large deficit against Baylor to record an important win.
“All those things he's done on the big stage,” said Weidl. “He's been a guy who hasn't flinched.”
