Jalen Hurts Named #3 Player In The NFL Top 100
The NFL Top 100 list is an inexact science. Every year, the NFL puts together a survey of current players as to who the top players in the league were that season. Over the past couple of weeks, they have been slowly releasing the results, 10 players at a time, for the 2023 season. Numerous Eagles had already been named. Including DeVonta Smith (#100), Darius Slay (#65), Haason Reddick (#48), Lane Johnson (#41), Jason Kelce (#37), and AJ Brown (#22), as the countdown reached the top 10.
There could already be plenty of debate about the validity of those players’ rankings. But there was an obvious player still to be ranked. Jalen Hurts. Hurts was undoubtedly going to be when of the final 10 revealed. Monday night we found out that he was voted as the #3 player in all of football by his peers. Considering he wasn’t even voted onto the list in 2022, it’s a great debut for the Eagles’ franchise QB.
Of course, part of the fun of the NFL Top 100 list is not just seeing where our favorite Eagles rank, but who they are ranked above and behind. For Hurts, there are much fewer players in the latter category. He only trailed 2 players in the voting. Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson. Who the Eagles selected Jalen Reagor over in the 2020 draft (sorry to bring it up again), and Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.
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It’s hard to argue against the merits of those two. Jefferson and Mahomes are deserving of the 2 and 1 spots respectively. I’m not sure how others feel about those top 3, I just don’t have too much of a problem with Hurts trailing those 2 players. 3 is not a bad place to be. When the bronze medal represents the 3rd best player in all of football, I think it’s a prize that holds some weight. It also leaves some very slight room for improvement going into the 2023-24 season for the ever-working Hurts.
So, who was behind him? Well, included in the 99% of NFL players who were ranked behind Hurts were some big time QBs. Joe Burrow (6) and Josh Allen (8) were the only other QBs in the top 30. They’re both superstars in their own right, and yet, NFL players are higher on Hurts than them. Justin Herbert, who some in the media still hold in higher regard than the Eagles’ signal caller, was the next QB listed at #32. According to the NFL Top 100, there’s a clear hierarchy of QBs in the NFL. And Hurts sits right up near the top.
Not only does his ranking look good compared to other star NFL QBs, it looks remarkable compared to other QBs in his conference. The next highest NFC QB on the NFL Top 100? Kirk Cousins, at 42. Apparently, the players feel that Hurts has a stranglehold on the NFC QB crown. Heading into only his 4th season in the NFL, he could have that title for a long time to come.
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Again, this ranking is based on a vote, not statistics, record, or any type of tangible number. It’s an inexact science, and a true popularity contest. It doesn’t guarantee another great year for Hurts, or any of the other top players listed. What it does show, though, is that the Eagles’ franchise guy has immense respect from his peers. A part of excellence in the NFL can be based on reputation. When Tom Brady lined up under center, you better believe that the perception of him caused nerves and mistakes on the part of the defenses he faced. There’s way more to it than just perception, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. For the Eagles, and for Jalen Hurts, it must be nice to get this type of recognition from the men he will be lining up with and against this season.