Russell Wilson was the 75th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 3rd round, and the rest is history. But one thing most people don’t know: the Philadelphia Eagles wanted to draft Wilson with their 3rd round pick (88th overall pick) but Wilson was snagged before they could draft him.
Fast forward to the 2020 NFL Draft. The Philadelphia Eagles decided to draft Jalen Hurts with their 2nd round pick (53th overall pick) and people didn’t understand why. The Eagles have Carson Wentz as well as Kyle Lauletta and Nate Sudfeld. So why would the Eagles need Hurts?
Several reasons.
First off, Eagles’ General Manager Howie Roseman spoke with NBC Sports Phildelphia’s John Clark earlier this week and brought up the 2012 draft as a explantation for draft Jalen Hurts in the second-round.
“We had a vision that we would draft a quarterback who’s been extremely successful, and I don’t want tampering charges on me but I think we can understand who that was, and then come back in the fourth round and draft a quarterback who won a world championship for us and go back-to-back. And I feel like we got a little cute. And I don’t know that there’s a big difference between taking the 53rd pick in the draft and taking a pick in the third round if you feel strongly about a guy.”
Simply put, Roseman didn’t want to miss out on another star quarterback, so he drafted Hurts.
But that’s not all.
In 2017, Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending injury in the 13th game of the season. Nick Foles took over and just so happened to lead the Eagles to winning the Super Bowl LII with a 41-33 win over the New England Patriots.
What if Jalen Hurts becomes that guy for the Eagles this season?
Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson had this to say about Hurts:
“I want to make a point here that first and foremost Jalen Hurts is a good quarterback. He was drafted as a quarterback. He’s a quarterback first, but he has a unique skill set. He’s a great runner, obviously. He throws well on the run. He’s got a unique set of skills that we’re going to take a look at as we keep developing this offseason.”
Many people forget Hurts’ college stats. They were nothing short of impressive. He was a starting quarterback at Alabama and Oklahoma. And when he was beaten out of the starting job at Alabama, it was by Tua Tagovailao, who just so happened to be the first quarterback drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.
Hurts finished the 2019 season at Oklahoma with a career high 3,851 yards passing, as well as a career-high 32 passing TDs. Not to mention a career 1,298 yards rushing to go along with yet another career-high 20 rushing touchdowns.
In his college career at both Alabama and Oklahoma, Hurts recorded almost 9,500 passing yards and 80 touchdowns, not to mention almost 3,300 rushing yards to go along with his 43 rushing touchdowns.
With all of this said, let’s rewind back to Russell Wilson. When he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2012, the Hawks had just paid Matt Flynn a three-year, $20M deal to be their future starting quarterback. But that would change.
Wilson won the starting quarterback job that fall and the Seahawks traded Flynn to the Oakland Raiders.
Hurts is talented on the ground and in the air. He isn’t limited. He can extend plays. Last season, Wentz completed 388 out of 607 passes (63.9%) for 27 TDS, and 7 inteceptions.
I’m not saying that Hurts is going to take over the starting job this fall, but I am saying you never know. Hurts is a hard worker, great player, and even better leader.
Jalen Hurts is going to prove he belongs in the NFL, and just as he did in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and in Norman, Oklahoma, he will win over the hearts of every coach, teammate and fan of the Eagles.