In what has been a relatively quiet couple of months for the Philadelphia Eagles, it didn’t take long for Jalen Hurts-related discourse to dominate newsfeeds once again. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN conducted an internal survey with coaches and scouts around the NFL to create a top-10 quarterback ranking – one that ultimately missed the face of the Eagles’ franchise.
Naturally, this was met with a flurry of debates. Hurts left a lot of Meat on the Bone in 2023, but the arguments that he was chained down by awful play-calling and some wear-and-tear are completely valid. But if we’re going off of quarterback performances alone, does he deserve a spot inside the top-10?
ESPN QB Rankings: No Jalen Hurts inside the top-10
The top-10 QB’s from the ESPN positional ranking series is as follows:
1st Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs
2nd Joe Burrow – Cincinnati Bengals
3rd Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills
4th Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens
5th Matthew Stafford – Los Angeles Rams
6th Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers
7th C.J. Stroud – Houston Texans
8th Aaron Rodgers – New York Jets
9th Jared Goff – Detroit Lions
10th Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys
Let the debates begin
We can be fair and say that Hurts wasn’t quite on the level of the top-4 quarterbacks in this list in 2023 (although you could argue Josh Allen throwing 18 interceptions is a Madden-worthy QB stat and not worthy of an elite grading, but that debate is for another day), but below that things start to get very subjective.
Matthew Stafford posted his lowest completion percentage since 2014 and threw for 3,965 yards (ranking 11th in the NFL) and 24 touchdowns (12th). He was very solid considering the Rams had to deal with a lot of bumps and bruises, but the emergence of Puka Nacua largely offset the early loss of Cooper Kupp, who still played in 12 games anyway. Does Stafford really deserve to sit inside the top-5?
Justin Herbert is another interesting case. He ranked 18th in passing yards and while his TD-INT ratio was good, I feel like a lot of this placement has to do with his upside now that Harbaugh is in town. Herbert has every intangiable you could ever wish for in a quarterback, and although QB wins aren’t a stat worth tracking, going 30-32 without any real sustained success is hardly a glowing sign of an elite talent. The arm-strength is there and the IQ is brilliant, but Herbert has rarely been the player to push the Chargers over the line.
C.J Stroud has had one season in the NFL. It was a great one and his ceiling is incredibly high, but most rookie quarterbacks who find success often come back down to earth in year 2 when significant tape is out for teams to break down. Look at Dak Prescott, for instance, who is still regarded as a top-10 quarterback, but is no longer the golden child of the NFL as he was when he first took over from Tony Romo.
The only quarterback who deserves their spot here is Jared Goff, in my opinion (I never thought I’d say that). Goff’s resurrection in Detroit has been genuinely stunning and while he’s still limited, it’s his ability to learn those limitations and play within them to elevate his team that should firmly place him in this conversation.
The final two quarterbacks on this list also raise questions. Aaron Rodgers is a remarkable talent, but he’s getting older and didn’t even play in 2023. We don’t know how he’ll look in this Jets offense. As for Dak Prescott, he’s been good but never great.
So….what about Jalen Hurts?
Jalen Hurts is in a weird territory right now. An MVP-caliber season in 2022 was rewarded with a monstrous new contract and a Jordan brand deal. Expectations were raised and unfortunately, he fell short of the mark in 2023.
But even in a ‘down year’, Hurts ranked 14th in passing yards and 13th in passing touchdowns, while his completion percentage ranked better than 5 QB’s who sat ahead of him in the passing yards metric. We haven’t even mentioned the 15 rushing touchdowns and 605 rushing yards either, that provide a ridiculous amount of value to a team that other QB’s inside the top-10 simply cannot match.
There were, and still are valid reasons to be concerned or disappointed about the play of Jalen Hurts in 2024. But when examining the ESPN QB ranking, we can also be fair in saying that if you were to pick a quarterback to lead your franchise for the next 5 years, Hurts would likely get picked over at least 4 of the top-10.
Rankings are subjective and should be treated as such. It’s not like Hurts is getting the same disrespect he was from Phil Simms just a couple of years ago, but seeing his name completely skipped over when looking at the best quarterbacks in the NFL does feel strange.
With an all-star offense now featuring Saquon Barkley as well as a dominant receiving tandem and a lethal offensive front, there is no reason why Jalen Hurts can’t re-establish himself in those ‘elite’ conversations during the 2024 season. The fact is he should really already be in them depending on who you ask, but the only way to guarantee that level of respect is to earn it on the field as he’s done so many times throughout his career.
AP Photo/Derik Hamilton
