I am Happy To Be Wrong About Jalen Hurts

Today was a momentous day for the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL, and of course, Jalen Hurts. The Eagles signed Hurts to a 5-year contract extension for 255 million where just under 180 of it is fully guaranteed. As of today, Hurts is the highest-paid player in the history of the NFL. If you asked me this on Draft Day, heck, if you asked me this before the start of the 2022 season, I would have said that there was a 0% chance this would happen.  

You all know the story of Hurts at this point. Taken over by Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, finished his college career with Oklahoma, and was considered a mid-round pick by analysts that cover the NFL Draft. 

I still remember where I was watching that 2020 draft. Like most of us, at my house because we were in the thick of Covid. Remember the weird Roger Goodell draft setup he had in his basement? In the second round, he announced that the Eagles selected Jalen Hurts. I was in shock.  

It had nothing to do with Hurts himself, it had everything to do with the other players on the board that could have filled positions of need. Carson Wentz just came off of a season where he threw for 4,000 yards, and not one wide receiver had over 500. The closest receiver to the 500 mark was Greg Ward. The defense was in desperate need of a corner of safety, and there were multiple options to chose from. The Eagles selected Hurts. A backup quarterback who some thought would go in the 3rd or 4th round. 

I understood what the Eagles mindset was. They wanted a cheap option to back up Wentz in case he was injured again. They didn't want to pay a veteran backup 10 million dollars, and they didn't want to be stuck with a player who was one bad hamstring away from retirement (Josh McCown). But this could have been done later in the draft, no? Don't get it twisted, the Eagles did not plan on Carson Wentz having a meltdown and Jalen Hurts becoming the runner-up for MVP.  

Fast forward to his first full season as a starter. A one-read quarterback who was quick to tuck and run. On the other hand, a damn good leader, someone who the locker room (which is way more important than some dude on the radio) adored, and the hardest worker on the entire team. But was it enough? 

There were reports after reports after reports of the Eagles trying to trade up in the NFL Draft. The Eagles were tied to Zach Wilson. There were reports that the Eagles were in on another Wilson, Russell Wilson. When it comes to both of those players, thank GOD they are not here. What I got out of it ultimately, the Eagles weren't totally in love with Hurts and thought there were better options out there, I felt the same. 

There are two giant misnomers when it comes to sports radio in Philadelphia. A lot of people think we like it when the teams lose. The other, we would rather be right than wrong. It may have been like this years ago, but I can promise you, that isn't the case. When the teams are good, more people listen. Do you think anyone listened to sports radio in August when the Phillies weren't making a playoff push? Last year, you did. Yeah sure, the Eagles lose and the following Monday, ratings are good. But do you want to hear negativity for a full week? No. Tuesdays then suck.

But if they win, not only are the hosts happy, you are happy and are more inclined to listen. When it comes to wanting to be right more than wrong. Sometimes that is true, like how I told everyone the Phillies would make the playoffs last year. But when it comes to something that is negative, I WANT to be wrong, because if I am, that means the opposite happened and things are good. 

The 2022-23 season was the best Eagles season I have ever witnessed. The 2017 team won the Super Bowl and were great from start to finish, but this team last year was different. There was no stopping them. It was total dominance almost every week of the season. If Jalen Hurts doesn't make the leap that he did from year one to year 2, they probably still make the playoffs, but they aren't a force in the NFC. If Jalen Hurts doesn't make the leap that he did, the Eagles package their two first-round picks to move up in the draft. Hurts proved me and a LOT of Eagles fans wrong. And I couldn't be happier.  

Congrats on the new contract, congrats on making history, and Go Birds. 

Jalen Hurts is going to be the Eagles' Qb for a while. Coming off his MVP-caliber season, he signed a 5-year extension, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history. While that is a title that may not last long, considering Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are also in line for new contracts, it puts him in that top tier of QBs, which is exactly where he belongs. As expensive as he will be going forward, Jalen Hurts is worth every penny.

Hurts was the runner-up MVP. You could argue he played even better than the Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. The Eagles lost just two games he played in last season. Yes, one of those was the Super Bowl, but it is hard to blame him for that given how well he played. And contrary to what some people say, he is not just a running QB. He developed into a hell of a pocket QB, with a QB rating over 100 in the pocket last season. Hurts threw 22 TDs with just 6 interceptions playing in the pocket last season. Yes, he can kill you with his legs. But he is just as capable of killing teams with his arm too.

And off the field, it is hard to find a player more beloved than him. AJ Brown came out in the offseason and said if the Eagles didn't pay Hurts, he would follow him wherever he goes. Ndamukong Suh went on the Rich Eisen show to gush about Hurts. You won't find a single guy Hurts plays with who has anything short of glowing praise.

Jalen Hurts is a star. And as much as this deal will cost, he is worth it. In case you forgot that fact, let's look back at some of his best performances from this past year.

Yes, the Eagles lost the Super Bowl. But it was not because of Jalen Hurts. He turned in what may be the best performance by the losing QB in Super Bowl history. 304 yards through the air, 70 on the ground, and 4 total TDs. He had an answer for everything the Chiefs did. When the Eagles trailed by 8 late in the game, he went down, rushed for a TD, then tied it up with a 2pt conversion. And maybe if his defense got a single stop and gave him a chance with time at the end of the game, he may have done it again for the win. 

Alas, that did not happen. The defense couldn’t get off the field. By the time Hurts got the ball back, it was with no time to do anything but a trick play. Still, he did everything in his power to win that game. Even after his fumble that went the other way for a TD, he came right back to get those points back for the Eagles. 

Hurts is a dynamic threat with his legs. But it is a discredit to him to talk about him as a running QB. Because he can be just as much of a threat with his arms. For proof of that, look no further than his performance vs the Titans. 380 passing yards, and 3 TDS. Two of those went to AJ Brown, and the other to Devonta Smith. Both of whom went for over 100 receiving yards.  

While having two dynamic WRs like Brown and Smith helps, they benefit from Hurts just as much. A great play needs both a great catch and a great throw. And that is what we saw on this connection in this game between Hurts and Brown.  

Of course, when Hurts does want to run, he can do so like an elite RB. When he faced the Packers, they thought they would throw him off by blitzing with man coverage. So Hurts just decided to run all over them. 157 yards on the ground in total. His passing numbers in this game did not jump off the charts. But they didn’t need to. The great thing about Hurts is that he can beat you in so many different ways. If you sell out to stop the run as the Titans did, he will shred you through the air. And if you don’t, like the Packers did, he will do this to you. 

If you liked that connection between Hurts and Brown in the Titans game, it happened 3 times vs the Steelers. Hurts had a way all year of throwing the deep ball to the exact right spot where only AJ Brown could make a play on it. That was on full display vs the Steelers. Hurts threw for 4 TDs, 3 on deep balls to Brown, and 285 total yards. It was another example of a game where Hurts didn’t even need his legs to make the other team pay. His arm did all the talking on this day. 

At one point, Carson Wentz was the answer for the Eagles at QB. It did not work out. The Eagles drafted Hurts, and by the next season, he had taken Wentz’s job, and Wentz was traded. A year after that, Wentz was on another new team and was facing off with Jalen Hurts. Hurts won that battle easily. While the Eagles' pass rush tormented Wentz, Hurts tormented the Commander’s secondary. 340 yards, 3 TDs, on the way to a 24-8 win. And most of the damage was in the first half before the Eagles took their foot off the gas.  

Hurts’ looked good in week 1. But it was not quite enough to answer questions people had of him coming into the season. His week 2 performance vs the Vikings did just that though. By the end of the Vikings game, he had thrown for 333 yards, 300 of which came in the first half, and put together some tough runs, to help carry the Eagles to a 24-7 win over the Vikings. All on Prime Time. It was Hurts announcing to the league that he was not the same QB they saw last season. A promise he kept up all season through the Super Bowl.