6. Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma
Height: 6’1″ Weight: 222
40-Yard Dash: 4.59 seconds
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 35 inches
Broad Jump: 10 feet, 5 inches
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: Similar to the quarterback who replaced him at Alabama, Jalen Hurts’ biography is well known by now. A four-star recruit out of Channelview High School in the Houston area, Hurts picked Alabama over Texas A&M during his recruiting process. He became the first true freshman to start for Alabama at quarterback in 30 years, but was benched at halftime of the national championship his sophomore season in favor of Tua Tagovailoa.
Hurts then lost the starting job to Tagovailoa prior to the 2018 season, and after graduating he transferred to Oklahoma for his final collegiate season. He was extremely efficient last season for the Sooners, and his passing efficiency of 191.2 was second only to Joe Burrow’s mark of 202.0 and stands as the seventh-most efficient passer mark of all-time.
Stat to Know: 3.08 seconds. That was Hurts’ time from snap to release last season, which was ranked 103rd among collegiate passers, according to Pro Football Focus. By comparison, the slowest passer in the NFL in 2019, according to Next Gen Stats, was Kirk Cousins with a time of 3.01.
Strengths: Hurts is an athletic quarterback who can create both outside the pocket and off structure. His ability to extend plays and make big throws downfield in scramble drill situations is impressive and likely led to that long time to throw. He throws the deep ball very well, with a good combination of touch and accuracy in the vertical passing game. Hurts also avoids mistakes with the football, and over his entire collegiate career, he threw just 20 interceptions against 80 interceptions.
Hurts’ athleticism also is going to be a weapon at the next level. While some compare him to Lamar Jackson, that comparison misses the mark. Where Jackson is a potential home-run hitter as a running back, with the ability to change direction on a dime and make people miss in the open field, Hurts plays the position more like a running back, who is just as likely to run you over in space than he is to juke you in the open field.
Finally, and we cannot emphasize this enough, is the character question. The pre-draft rise of Hurts should not be a surprise, given how he handled the situation at Alabama and then transferred to Oklahoma to immediately become a leader of that team. Football minds are going to love him from a leadership and character standpoint, and you just know that he crushed those interviews in the hotel suites at Indianapolis.
Weaknesses: His ball placement can be erratic at times, even on some of the shorter route concepts in the playbook. His mechanics are a question, as he showed an elongated windup to his release on film. To his credit, that was cleaned up first for the Senior Bowl and then later for the combine, where his throwing session was impressive. Hurts is also very much a see it, throw it passer right now, and he will need to really learn how to anticipate throwing windows and how to throw receivers open in the NFL. Hurts also has a tendency to rely on his athleticism, vacating clean pockets and dropping his eyes when pressured quicker than other passers in this class.
Conclusion: Because of his strengths, including his character, Hurts has an NFL future. What that ultimately looks like depends on how well he enhances his strengths and works to improve his limitations as a quarterback. He has the potential to be a schematically diverse quarterback at the next level, and that will open doors for him as well. Hurts will need some time to develop, perhaps more than even a few passers ranked below him. But in the right setting, you could see everything coming together for him and Hurts having a very solid career.
Comparison: Like some of the other passers in this group, it makes sense to apply both a floor and ceiling comparison for Hurts. He could have a very Tyrod Taylor-like career, but if things come together for him, and he lands in the right spot to develop, Hurts could grow into a player similar to Dak Prescott, who makes plays with his legs and in the downfield passing game in and out of structure.