Chris Simms is a Generational Hater

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Feb 8, 2023

Way back in the summer of 2021, former NFL quarterback and current NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms published his annual ranking of the top 40 quarterbacks in the league. Any quarterback ranking will start an argument of some sort, but one aspect of the list that caught many an eyeball was the exclusion of Jalen Hurts.

It was clear through the three or four-ish games we saw of Jalen Hurts’ rookie season that he was a major work in progress, as his passing ability was simply not at an NFL level yet. Still, several of the players Simms placed over Hurts were just flat-out ridiculous, even at the time. Drew Lock? Tyrod Taylor? Kellen Mond? CASE KEENUM? It was a wild overreaction to an unfinished product. Even with his struggles, Hurts still looked better than Carson Wentz did during his wretched 2020 season, and Wentz somehow placed 18th on that list.

In Hurts’ first year as the full-time starter, he showed flashes, especially as a runner, but he remained inconsistent as a passer. In the Eagles’ lone playoff game that season, he was dreadful, as the Buccaneers devised the perfect gamplean for him by committing the defensive line towards keeping him from rolling out to his right, where he was by far at his best. Hurts showed he was at least an NFL-caliber player, but he still had many questions left to answer in terms of becoming a franchise quarterback. 

In his 2022 rankings, Simms seemed to take a similar stance on his podcast, but then proceeded to rank him 25th in his rankings. That number does not seem completely unreasonable on paper, but having guys like Daniel Jones and Zach Wilson ranked above him shows that he was still underappreciating Hurts.

Hurts of course would go on to completely break out this season, as he is going to finish second in the MVP race and possibly win the Super Bowl. I am not going to pretend as if I saw this coming in any way, shape, or form, but I can eat my words and give the man his credit. Chris Simms, meanwhile, seems to have a pathological agenda against Hurts and consistently refuses to acknowledge the fact that he has been a top-level quarterback this season.

First, he basically said that Hurts should not be in the MVP conversation because they would still be really good with Gardner Minshew:

The Eagles proceeded to lose each of the two games that Minshew started after Hurts injured his shoulder, and Simms went on a temper tantrum:

Then, after the playoff games against the Giants and 49ers, Simms appeared to soften his stance a bit, acknowledging Hurts as a top-10 quarterback (which is still not very praiseworthy at this point in time, but whatever): 

Finally, on Wednesday, Simms decided that he actually misses throwing shade at Hurts, and in the midst of Super Bowl week essentially declared Hurts as a system quarterback:

I could break down how this is obviously an absurd stance, but that just feels like arguing with a brick wall at this point. It is easier and more fun to just laugh at the – if we are being honest – impressive level of hating Simms has done up to this point.

 

Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images

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