A Winner: From Those Who Know, and Proving It to Those That Didn’t
Some Are Surprised At Jalen’s Success.
Those Who Know Him Best, Aren’t.
When you spend your whole professional life evaluating and coaching football quarterback prospects, you know how to evaluate talent. Footwork, arm strength, and a quick release are only a part of the evaluation.
Every once in a while, you get a winner—a quarterback who possesses all of those abilities but comes up big at the biggest moments.
Jalen Hurts is one of those quarterbacks.
Winners are those exceptional athletes who remain unflappable. Up by 40, down by 3— they stay even keel. They have all the ability for stats, big plays, and lots of yards and touchdowns. Jalen Hurts’ top stat is that he is a winner. In five years in an Eagles uniform, Hurts is 49–27–1. He’s guided the Eagles to the NFC Playoffs each of the four seasons that he has been a starter.
PHOTO: Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
Hurts isn’t always even a top-five quarterback in the national rankings. Joe Burrow’s big arm, Lamar Jackson’s athletic abilities, and Josh Allen’s durability sometimes all rank higher. But Jalen’s relentless pursuit of football perfection has made him the biggest winner out of that group. With the game on the line, he’s as good as anyone in the NFL.
And none of those quarterbacks have a ring. Jalen Hurts does.
Developing an excellent work ethic and determination for winning isn’t new. Jalen’s Dad saw it in the 198-pound national finalist powerlifter and high school player who threw 61 touchdowns and over 6,300 yards while at Channelview High School in Houston.
Perhaps the best coach in college football history, Nick Saban, knew it, too. When he moved to bench Jalen in the CFP Championship Game in 2018, he never lost faith in Jalen’s abilities. The following season at Alabama, Hurts again played for the Crimson Tide. When Jalen transferred as a grad student to Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley knew exactly what type of talent he was getting.
When the Eagles mystified the NFL during a Covid-restricted Draft and complimented their high-priced franchise quarterback by taking Hurts in the second round, they knew exactly what kind of a winner Jalen Hurts was. Carson Wentz saw it as well.
Before the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts in 2020, they hired a consultant. Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid provided an evaluation of Hurts for the Eagles.
He knew Jalen’s capabilities then. He knows them even better now.
PHOTO: Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
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Categorized:Eagles