We’re now heading into week 10 of the NFL season which means that there are only 8 games left for the team to evaluate Jalen Hurts before an offseason of infinite possibility opens. With three first-round picks at their disposal, the Eagles are well positioned to find their ultimate QB solution, regardless of what happens over the next couple of months.
So let’s take a look at where the Eagles stand in the Hurts vs assets watch. Is there already a direction the team should be leaning?
The Draft Picks
Currently, the Eagles are set to pick at 3 (Via Miami), 7, and 14 (from Indianapolis). The Eagles have great options at all of these selections. If they’re looking to draft a QB at 3, then Malik Willis or Matt Corral will be the logical options. Corral seems to be the more likely of the two as his game is a bit more polished than Willis.
There’s also a second path which seems to be the more likely one. The Eagles could use the Dolphins’ pick and more to land a veteran QB such as Rusell Wilson or DeShaun Watson. While the jury is still out on Watson, you can’t deny the fact that Roseman has been heavily snooping around the Texans’ QB.
As for Wilson, well we all know that he’s the apple to Roseman’s eye. Howie has consistently brought up the fact that the Eagles let him slip through their fingers, and even compared other quarterbacks to him.
But can Jalen Hurts veer Roseman away from making another change at the quarterback position?
Jalen Hurts
Hurts is having an up and down season with a ton of growing pains attached to it. While his stats say otherwise, the inconsistency of his play has been a huge knock in the offensive armour of the Eagles. On the year, Hurts has tallied 1,981 passing yards, 494 rushing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and 5 rushing touchdowns. He’s also managed to have a completion percentage of 61% this season which is 9% higher than what he had last season at 52%.
Even with the increase, Hurts is still ranked at the bottom of the league in completion percentage. We’ve seen time and time again that he has a bad habit of not planting his feet before the throw which has led to a wild amount of inaccurate passes. He’s also had a bad habit of escaping the pocket before his receivers routes develop.
There have been too many times this season where Hurts has ran out of a clean pocket and overlooked the wide-open receiver. He hadn’t shown up much until the second half of last week’s game against the Chargers. Hurts stood tall in the pocket with the utmost confidence. He nailed deep pass after deep pass to DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert as he played mistake-free football to keep his team in the game.
The Conclusion
Right now the Eagles have to be at a standstill after seeing how Jalen adjusted in the second half vs the Chargers. The accuracy, the poise, and the wise decision-making have to be enough for the team to be mildly invested in the second-year QB. While there are more than enough games left to truly evaluate him, his last game has helped his stock heading into the offseason. The biggest question is if he can consistently play smart football going forward. If he’s able to show that level of maturity for the remaining eight games then Hurts shouldn’t have to worry about his job this offseason but if he takes two steps back, then the Eagles will move on.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
