Jalen Hurts: The Leader The Eagles Need

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts brought the 2022 Eagles within sight of the team's second Super Bowl parade down Broad Street. Ultimately falling short to MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, 38-35. The disappointment was obvious coming from the young leader of the Eagles. Big things are coming for this young man in the future.

The Philadelphia Eagles opened up training camp with some new faces at positions around the Nova Care Complex but one that stayed consistent was the man under center.

Jalen Hurts (24) signed a 5-year contract extension that is worth upwards of $225 million with incentives, this past off-season.

Solidifying his place as the face of the franchise and a leader at the young age of 24.

A leader the Eagles need.

General Manager Howie Roseman took a risk in the first round of the draft by selecting Jalen Carter out of Georgia. Carter was involved in a criminal investigation, that possibly took a toll on his draft stock. Some scouts were quoted as calling him the best talent in the entire draft. And after showing up to Georgia’s pro-day out of shape and just not himself.

His character and commitment began to arise as a topic of conversation amongst scouts and teams around the league, but the Eagles took a chance.

The Eagles took a chance on a player that has undeniable talent but has some questions off the field.

A move that was the opposite when they selected their franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Hurts’ leadership on and off the field is well-known and common knowledge at this point in his young career. The 24-year-old will look to have an impact on some of the incoming rookies and other new players the team brought in.

Hurts is the leader the Eagles need. He presents himself in a way that can be motivational and educational to players on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Hurts will look to bring his Eagles team back to the big stage, but this time.

Be on the other side of the Lombardi Trophy.

We are now a few days into Eagles Training Camp. It opened up on Tuesday, and they had their first practice on Wednesday. And you can already see storylines starting to develop. Whether it came from what we saw on the practice field, or from what the coaches or players said in press conferences after the fact. It is the first step on their journey to try and get back to the Super Bowl. With hopefully a much better finish this time around.

The offense mostly looks the same. Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and most of the line are all back. Miles Sanders and Isaac Seumalo are the only starters who left. But the defense is very different. Two new starters at both Safety and Linebacker. Javon Hargrave left, but there are some new faces along the line too in Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. And there are new faces on the sideline with Sean Desai taking over for Jonathan Gannon, and Brian Johnson for Shane Steichen.

Can this roster live up to the lofty standards last season's team set? Will rookies like Carter and Smith live up to the hype? Who has the early edge in some of the key camp battles?

Obviously, everything that happens at training camp needs to be taken with a grain of salt. We have all seen players look like stars in camp, only to never replicate that in a real game. But that doesn't mean there is nothing to learn. And the first few days of camp certainly had some interesting takeaways. Whether that be early standouts, Nick Sirianni's message to his team, or what players are getting the first team reps early in camp.

We were told that Jalen Carter was one of the best players in the draft, and so far he is living up to that hype. The thing everyone who has been at Eagles Training Camp keeps saying is how great Carter looks. He is going up against the Eagles Offensive Linemen, and winning those reps. Both Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson had tons of praise for him.

Not a surprise, given the pedigree he had coming out of Georgia. But it is a good first sign that he may actually be good as people keep telling us he is.

Nick Sirianni is making one thing clear, his team is not going to take things for granted just because of how good they were last year. So when there was slopiness on the first day of camp, he let them hear it. This is what Tim McManus told us when he joined The Best Show Ever earlier in the week.

It's the first day of camp and slopiness is to be expected. But the point is that Nick Sirianni is setting a tone that that type of sloppiness won't be accepted. They cant take it for granted that they will just be as good as they were last year without putting the work in.

https://975thefanatic.com/2023/07/26/nick-sirianni-rips-into-his-players-in-first-training-camp-practice/

Jalen Carter has gotten most of the talk to, but his Georgia teammate is also making some waves. On the first day of practice, he beat Jack Driscoll two snaps in a row, one of which would have been for a sack. It's also worth noting he was getting some first-team reps in goal-line situations, over Brandon Graham. He was not super productive at Georgia, but his athleticism and speed blew scouts away enough to make him a first-round pick. And that speed is paying off so far in camp.

The Eagles already had a great Edge rotation last year. Reddick, Sweat, and Graham all had double digits sacks. Now you add Smith to that. That may mean less production for each individual player, but more production overall from the team. And ideally, it means all 4 of them can stay fresher throughout the season.

The Eagles might have some interesting plans for D'Andre Swift. Tim McManus pointed out that they used him in more ways than just putting him in the backfield. On the first day they had him motioning to the slot, and even lining up outside. He was incredibly effective as a pass catcher for the Lions. We saw that ourselves in Week 1. And the Eagles seem to be looking for even more ways to utilize his skills in the passing game.

There was a lot of talk last season about Jordan Davis not being conditioned well enough. He is a very large man. And it can be hard for someone his size to stay in shape. It is why his snaps were so limited at Georgia, despite him playing so well when on the field. But apparently, that is not as much of a problem this season. He came into camp a bit slimmed down and is far more active in practice. Fletcher Cox had a lot of praise for Davis after the first day.

They are giving him a chance to have a big role. He has played a lot of reps on both 3 and 4-man fronts early in camp. If he shows he can be adequate as a pass rusher, there could be a massive role for him, even with how deep the DT rotation goes.

A few seasons ago, Tyree Jackson was the training camp darling. Then he got hurt. Since then, we have not seen him much apart from a very limited sample size. The luster of that camp had worn off, and he was in danger of losing his job this time around. It seems like he is well aware of that because he is already having a big camp.

Backup TE is very much a job open to win. Jack Stoll is primarily a blocker, and Grant Calcaterra has promise, we just have not seen much of it yet. Tyree Jackson could find himself as TE2 if he keeps this up. And that can be parlayed into real playing time given Goedert's injury history.

To people outside, Elliss was not getting a ton of talk as a potential starter. But if you listen to what some Eagles media members are saying, he may have a shot at unseating Nicholas Morrow for the second LB spot alongside Nakobe Dean. He has reportedly made a name for himself in both OTAs and now the first few practices at camp. Including when he picked off Marcus Mariota on day 1.

It is something worth keeping an eye on. The roster battles that have gotten the most attention are Safety and RG. But if Elliss keeps playing like this, LB could become another battle to watch.

This one is not surprising. We were told Cam Jurgens would get every chance to win the job, and that he had a leg up going into camp. Him getting the first team reps early in camp just confirms that. And then Nick Sirianni echoed that in his first press conference. And Lane Johnson praised him while speaking to the media at Training Camp.

But don't rule out Tyler Steen just yet. He has the more natural body fur a guard and is billed as the Eagles' future starter there once Cam takes over for Kelce. Jeff Kerr told our Tom Alvord that he would not be shocked if Steen wins the job now.