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Don’t Expect Jalen Hurts To Take A Step Back This Season

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Author and Dylan MacKinnon
Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.

Jalen Hurts took a larger jump last season than any QB in recent memory. He went from a guy people left out of the top 20 QBs in the league, to the runner up at MVP. Usually when there is that big of a climb, you would expect a slight return to the norm, right? Not so fast. James Palmer of The NFL Network joined us earlier today, and he does not see a step back coming. If anything he says there will be another jump forward. And that is not just him saying that. He says it is the common opinion of everyone he talks to around the NFL.

“Everybody I speak to around the NFL expects Jalen Hurts to take another jump. Why? Because he has done it every single year? Everything has gone up, every single stat. The only thing that has gone down is interceptions.

Where do you go up from being runner up to MVP? The sense I get is he is not going to take a step back. For a number of reasons. The main one being they just  have better players on offense than everyone else does. That stays the same. They lost Miles Sanders, and a lot of people think the backfield will actually be better with Rashaad Penny and D’Andre Swift. And it is the way that they play. I have talked to DCs a number of times. Even just the fear of him keeping it on read options or zone reads… defenses are on their heels just because there is a chance he runs it.

The only thing I could see that hurts them is you are changing play callers. But you are also changing play callers to a guy who has been there, helped put this offense together and oh yea has known your QB since he was 4 years old.

I am looking at all the reasons why he could take a step back, and I don’t see a reason why he would. So I think you  have to put him in the top 4 or 5 QBs in football.”

As good as Hurts was last year, there could be another jump coming. As Palmer pointed out that is just what he does, he gets better. Jalen knew he had to take a jump last season, and worked his tail off to improve his passing. Given what we know about him, there is no doubt he worked just as hard this offseason too. And we saw he is more than just an athlete. He is also one of the smarter QBs in the league, and his deep ball accuracy was up there among the best QBs in the NFL.

Jalen Hurts is a special player. We saw him go up against Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, and look the part. And if you are waiting for a step back this season, you may be waiting for a quite a while. Because even people outside of Philly see big things for Jalen hurts this season.

You can listen to the full conversation with James Palmer below:

You may also enjoy:

The 6 Performances That Show Jalen Hurts is Worth Every Penny

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.

Here are the 5 performances from last season that show Jalen Hurts is worth every penny…

  • Superbowl LVII- Hurts Goes Toe to Toe with Patrick Mahomes 

    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. 

  • 12/4- Hurts Throws it All Over the Titans 

    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.  

  • 11/27- Hurts Runs All Over the Packers 

    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. 

  • 10/30- Hurts Finds AJ Brown Deep 3 Times 

    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. 

  • 9/25- Hurts Outduels Wentz To Show Eagles Made the Right Choice 

    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.  

  • 9/19- Hurts Declares Himself as a Star in Week 2 vs the Vikings 

    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.  

 

Dylan MacKinnon is The Digital Content Coordinator For 97.5 The Fanatic. he has been an Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Flyers fan his whole life. He graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Dylan has worked at the Fanatic since 2016, starting as an Intern, moving to the Street team, and eventually was hired as an Associate Producer before settling into his current role in the Digital Department. You may hear him referred to on-air as "The D-Train."

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