The Philadelphia Eagles appear determined to make Jalen Hurts their starting quarterback in 2021, giving the second-round pick every chance of success in his new role. By Chris Mortensen of ESPNEagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has prioritized Hurts’ success in 2021 instead of creating real competition for the position.
“Lurie basically sent the message to his personnel department and general manager Howie Roseman that he wants to do whatever he can to help Jalen Hurts succeed and not recruit someone for the job,” Mortensen said on ESPN. “Now they have a new head coach in Nick Sirianni, he understands what the owner wants, the owner gets.”
Hurts is the only quarterback currently on the Eagles roster. The team agreed to trade Carson Wentz for the Indianapolis Colts last month and Nate Sudfeld is a free agent, so the addition of a free agency quarterback or draft is expected. Philadelphia could always bring Sudfeld back to Hurts’ backup, but there are better free agency options that can challenge Hurts for work or are safety blankets in case Hurts struggles in 2021.
That’s not what Lurie has in mind with the quarterback who replaced Wentz in the last four games of the season. Hurts started for the Eagles after being used in a Taysom Hill-like role in the first 12 games of the season, throwing just three assists before permanently replacing Wentz in Week 13 against the Green Bay Packers. In his four starts, Hurts completed 51.9% of his passes (69 for 133) for 919 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions for a score of 77.2 passers. Hurts also had 46 carries for 272 yards and three touchdowns in those four starts.
Hurts is the only quarterback since 1950 to throw over 800 yards and rush for over 200 yards in his first three starts, which is impressive considering the Eagles only had Isaac Seumalo and Jason Kelce as their starters on the offensive line. Philadelphia was on a backup left tackle in Jordan Mailata (who played well enough to be the starter in 2021) with Nate Herbig at right guard (save) and Matt Pryor at right tackle (third string). The Eagles will bring Brandon Brooks and Lane Johnson back to the right side of the line, which will help Hurts immensely in his development.
Whether Lurie should be involved in such important personnel decisions as the franchise’s quarterback is debatable, but the front office has every right to see what Hurts has in a 2021 rebuild season. Hurts is exceeding expectations, the Eagles rebuilding project may not take that long. as expected.
The Eagles owe it to the franchise to see what Hurts has to offer before rushing to the podium and creating another quarterback dilemma in this year’s draft. That’s not what Lurie wants, maybe to learn from Wentz’s fiasco last year.