Jalen Hurts – Is he worth it?

Heading into 2022 season, and even further back if he you think back to last summer, people thought that Jalen Hurts was something of a runner who couldn’t throw.

Drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, to serve as the backup quarterback to Carson Wentz, most people saw Hurts as an interesting, highly talented developmental prospect, but didn’t really think he possessed first-round level starter potential.

Then, Wentz went from being an MVP-caliber player in the eyes of many, to being one of the worst performing quarterbacks in football. He was so bad, in fact, that Doug Pederson could not run any semblance of an NFL offensive scheme. Thus, he was benched for the last four weeks of the season in favor of Hurts.

Hurts showed enough promise that newly hired head coach Nick Sirianni decided to appoint him as the full time starter for 2021. That year, Hurts made extreme strides in his game, using both his abilities as a runner in an option-powered rushing attack and his improved ability to distribute the ball accurately to his playmakers-most notably, rookie wideout DeVonta Smith, a former teammate at the University of Alabama.

Hurts was the question mark on an Eagles team in 2022 that was looked at as the best roster in the NFC East before the season, and was a dark horse candidate to go even further in the postseason than they had the year before.

The Eagles did that, and more. They won the NFC, possessed the best record of any team in the regular season, and lost the Super Bowl to one final scoring drive by the now undisputed God-Emperor Supremus of the NFL, Patrick Mahomes. Amongst many narratives, Jalen Hurts had ostensibly lept up into the stratosphere as an elite quarterback with the likes of Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen.

For this edition of Is He Worth It?, I am not disputing that Jalen Hurts is a very good quarterback. The question lies in how many strides he has made in his game to this point-especially when it comes to effectively distributing the ball to his copious load of skill talent.

Hurts has all of the talent that elite quarterbacks possess, and also contains the most intangibles of arguably every quarterback in the league. During this offseason, the Eagles turned him into the second-highest paid quarterback in the league, with an abundant contract worth $255 million, and an average of $45 million a year over a five year period.

That is higher than other quarterbacks in the elite tier, and only Lamar Jackson surpasses the deal in total money gained. Does this contract suit Hurts? Let’s find out.

It Hurts to face Jalen

An elite talent at the quarterback position, the first thing that shows up when you watch Hurts is his speed and strength as a runner of the football. There are many plays that show Hurts pick up first downs with his legs amidst a downfield tear.

On a 1st and 10 play early against the Steelers in Week 8, the Eagles operate out of a 3 by 1 set with a singleback formation in the backfield. The Steelers respond by trying to bring an extra man to blitz from the formation side, while leaving a linebacker to take the remaining open space.

Hurts sees this while operating an inside zone read concept and takes the ball himself. The most noticeable thing about this play is that the linebacker assigned to Hurts is the only defender playing off the assignment; everyone else is in man coverage, pressing against their assigned player. This is designed for more leverage on a tackle against a runner in space.

Despite this, Hurts is able to keep the ball, and use his raw speed to pick up a second and 1, before sliding. He demonstrates both an ability to evade tacklers in space, as well as an extremely unique and powerful stride with how he runs.

It is this running ability that forces defenses to play extra defenders against the backfield. This leaves one on one matchups of varying kinds with every skill player the Eagles have. It is these matchups that Hurts feasts on with his arm, killing defenses from the pocket.

In the 2nd quarter against the Steelers, the Eagles are tied up with Pittsburgh at 7. Hurts operates out of a 2 by 2 set in the gun, with a tailback in the backfield with him. The Steelers line up as if they are about to blitz, in an attempt to try to account for Hurts’s ability to run.

As a result, they leave every receiver outside in a one on one matchup. And when it comes to a certain deep threat named AJ Brown-who, by the way, is arguably the best player on the entire Eagles offense-this is paradise and then some.

Hurts motions a tight end into the backfield pre-snap, takes the ball, and immediately lofts Brown a perfect deep shot for a touchdown. The corner and safety have almost perfect leverage mid-route, and as such, there is nothing they can do to prevent the throw, nor the ability of Brown downfield.

Finally, Hurts shows excellent ability to get out of the pocket and keep his eyes downfield when he knows he has good passing options, as opposed to simply taking off like he does on designed runs. On 1st and 10 in the 3rd quarter, with the Eagles up 28-13, the Steelers are trying to play further back in zone coverage on defense, to not let up any more explosives to Brown or otherwise.

Hurts’ initial read to his right is disrupted. Meanwhile, Alex Highsmith gets through the offensive line, and forces Hurts to back out to his left while spinning around. Luckily, Hurts knows that AJ Brown is in a position against the zone coverage where he can run a simple comeback, and looks for him to do so. Brown adjusts, and catches a throw toward the boundary from Hurts for the 1st down.

In summation, Hurts has every single quality that a top-tier NFL dual threat quarterback needs to possess: a devastating style of running, complemented by excellent decision making in the passing game, both within and outside the pocket. What, then, is the qualm that some have about his game?

Where the inconsistency stems from… and how it can be fixed

The only current flaw in the game of Jalen Hurts is his tendency to muscle occasional throws. This can result in his ball placement becoming skewed either too low or too high.

During the Eagles’ game against the Bears in Week 15, the Bears came out with an excellent gameplan on defense: play tighter than normal zone, and take away AJ Brown’s leverage. This became apparent early on in the 1st quarter.

On 1st and 10, right after a tight catch by Devonta Smith for a 1st down, the Eagles run a tight 2 by 2 passing concept, with Hurts operating from under center. The Bears drop into a cover 3 zone, and play 4 defenders close to the receivers underneath, sealing away most of the easy 1st down options.

As a result, Hurts has to throw an extremely tight hitch route deep downfield to AJ Brown. Hurts uses too much of his arm in a kind of see-saw motion, rather than planting his feet and using his entire upper body. The throw is undercooked, and intercepted by Kyler Gordon.

Another interception occurs later in this game, on 3rd and 6 with 5:21 left in the second quarter. The Bears run man coverage against a spread out Eagles offense operating from shotgun. Hurts attempts to take a deep throw to what is essentially a post route out of the formation side slot from Quez Watkins.

He once again uses a little too much arm, and, while anticipating the direction of the throw correctly, angles it too far to the left, leading to another interception-this time by Deandre Houston-Carson.

Finally, this inaccuracy from Hurts can very occasionally happen when he is in the pocket-albeit not often at all. There is a play on a 1st and 10 late in the third quarter where Hurts operates out of the gun, with a tight end and a mostly spread out formation, along with a tailback to his left. The Bears bring a 5 man rush, and drop into a 2-deep zone look that leaves DeVonta Smith open on a stick route right underneath a safety.

Hurts has his body forward too much before he releases the ball, which results in a low throw. While this does not happen often, it is a mechanical issue that could use polish.

Overall, Hurts has some inconsistencies with how he releases the ball. The good news? They are very fixable with mechanical drills-and inside intel suggests that the Eagles believe he is making an extremely high jump in this regard.

Final evaluation

Hurts has been paid a contract that is predictive of the rise in cost for elite quarterbacks in the NFL. While it might be a little more than he is worth compared to other players, it will probably be a bargain three to five years from now.

Hurts has every quality of an elite quarterback in the NFL. Not only that, he possesses an already good and quickly growing ability to play from the pocket and utilize the fundamentals of reading a defense and delivering the ball.

The Eagles believe they have found their franchise quarterback for the next ten years, and I believe they are right.