Eagles' Jalen Hurts draws surprising ranking among NFL QBs

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did not have a great season in 2023.

Hurts achieved career highs in both passing yards (3,858) and passing touchdowns (23), but he also threw a career-worst 15 interceptions and committed 20 turnovers overall.

His erratic play down the stretch was a big reason why the Eagles collapsed in the second half of the season, losing five of their last six games to finish 11-6 after starting the year 10-1. Philadelphia was then routed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

That’s why it’s surprising that Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon has ranked him as the fifth-best signal-caller in the NFL heading into 2024, ahead of names like Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy and Justin Herbert.

Hurts is two years removed from finishing second in MVP voting, but even that season, his numbers were not spectacular, as he threw for 3,701 yards, 22 touchdowns and six picks while completing 66.5 percent of his passes.

Gagnon mentions Hurts’ ability to run the football as a significant reason why he is ranked so highly, as he did punch in 15 rushing scores last year. However, he averaged just 3.9 yards per carry, which was — by far — the worst mark of his professional career.

Hurts, who played his collegiate football at the University of Oklahoma, was selected by Philly in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

He took over as the Eagles’ full-time starting quarterback in 2021, finishing with 3,144 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, completing 61.3 percent of his passes.

Hurts is certainly an athletic specimen, and up until this past year, his leadership skills were unquestioned. However, there were rumblings that some within the Eagles locker room were not too enthralled with Hurts’ demeanor throughout Philadelphia’s miserable second half in 2023.

The 25-year-old has plenty of time to turn it around, though.

It also helps Hurts that he has arguably the league’s best receiver duo in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith — both of whom just secured long-term deals — at his disposal. Plus, Philly has a terrific tight end in Dallas Goedert, and it just added star running back Saquon Barkley in free agency.

With a very impressive offensive line to boot, Hurts has all of the tools available to have a bounce-back year in 2024. He’ll certainly need to do that in order to justify this top-five ranking.