Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has been under heavy duress throughout the first six games of the NFL season in 2024. While it might not seem like it, Philadelphia’s 26-year-old signal-caller is having a season that compares favorably to the rest of his five-year NFL career. However, there is one glaring addition to the back of Hurts’ trading card, a glaring sack total. While it is a bit too late to get Jason Kelce back in Midnight Green to protect the starting quarterback, the coaching staff can try to do some things to help their signal caller stay off the turf while being surrounded by celebrating defensive athletes at the end of a play call.
Jalen Hurts has been sacked 18 times for an average of three sacks per game this season. This figure is bloated from the six sacks allowed against Tampa Bay in Week 4. However, the Eagles have allowed four takedowns by both New Orleans and the New York Giants. Therefore, for 50% of games this season, Jalen Hurts has been mauled regularly with at least four sacks against the second-round draft selection.
Here are three ideas of what Nick Sirianni and the Eagles’ coaching staff can do to help their star QB as he works on grasping yet another new offensive system this season.
Feed Saquon Barkley
Step 1 – Give the ball to Saquon Barkley.
Last week at MetLife Stadium in Northern New Jersey, the Eagles coaching staff executed an exceptional run-heavy game plan that featured Saquon Barkley and Kenny Gainwell. Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles ran the football down the throat of the hosting New York Giants in a 28-3 win. What can the coaching staff learn from the rout against New York? It’s pretty simple actually … feed Saquon the rock and let the former first-rounder run wild.
Barkley finished with 176 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. When Sirianni offered Saquon a chance at setting a new career rushing mark in his old backyard, the veteran halfback told the coach, “I’d rather see the young boys eat.” Barkley was full after feasting on the Giants in his New York Homecoming.
For Saquon Barkley it has been all love running the ball as a Philadelphia Eagles back. The 28-year-old Penn State draftee is over halfway to his career season mark already with 658 yards on 108 carries. His best season in New York was in 2022 with 1,312 yards over 295 carries. At his current pace, Barkley is on track to set a new career high in rushing yards by Week 12 and could approach the 1,800 – 2,000 yards mark by the end of the season.
Speed up Jalen’s Throw Time
Step 2 – Limit how long Jalen Hurts hangs on to the football.
In the 2022 NFL season, when the Eagles took a trip to Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs, the stellar play of Jalen Hurts was a big reason why. Statistically speaking, it was also the best season of Jalen Hurts’ career as the signal caller showcased an understanding of the offense and looked comfortable flinging the football all over the field at will. Philly finished 11-5 and almost claimed their second Lombardi trophy in Glendale, Arizona.
Fast forward two seasons and two offensive coordinators later, Jalen Hurts is learning yet another new offensive system, and the results on the field are clear. It takes more time to process new information, and that split second is all that NFL defenses need to make an impact.
At his best season two years ago, Jalen Hurts was getting the football out of his hands quickly at 2.86 seconds. Last season, that time-to-throw number increased to 3.11 seconds. This season that mark sits at the same time frame (3.11 seconds) through the first third of the NFL season.
Former Eagles linebacker turned NFL pundit, Seth Joyner, took to Instagram to provide his take on Hurt’s play when breaking down the tape from last week’s game against New York for the Seth Joyner Show. “There was a play in third down where Saquon was actually running a wheel route and he had DeVonta Smith underneath. I agree in a situation like that, his vision needs to broaden. That kind of tells me that he’s not grasping the offense in totality. He’s gotta get better and he’s gotta get faster at going through his progression and his decision-making and not always waiting on the big play to open up but being able to settle for the underneath stuff.”
Joyner was quick to say he did not think all of the blame falls on the Eagles star quarterback with the QB needing some help from the walking wounded offensive line in front of him. “I am not so sure that I believe that’s 100% on Jalen,” Joyner claimed. “I don’t think right now that the offensive line are playing well enough for them to really push the ball down the field until they’ve established the run game.”
It will take some more time for Jalen Hurts to truly feel comfortable in this system under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. But here’s a silver lining from…Dallas? Kellen Moore helped Dak Prescott improve his time-to-throw from 2.82 to 2.70 from 2018 to 2020 showcasing an ability to help an important player make adjustments.
In 2022, when Jalen Hurts seemed most comfortable with the offense in front of him, he got rid of the ball quickly and accurately. It might take some more time to learn Moore’s schemes, and that process simply can’t be rushed. However, easier wide receiver patterns could assist Hurts in throwing the ball quicker. A sub-3-second time-to-throw for the Eagles signal-caller could improve the offense in a big way whether it’s more underneath WR routes or designed swing passes for the halfbacks.
Keep Jalen Hurts Mobile
Step 3 – Profit. To profit on the football field, a quarterback needs to be upright and protected to make the best possible reads and throws possible. If consistently under pressure, the “quarterback clock” ticks a bit faster leading to rushed and inaccurate tosses.
This season on 92 dropback snaps, Jalen Hurts has scrambled only 14 times, or 15% of snaps. One of the things that Shane Steichen did well with Jalen Hurts in 2021 and 2022 was to get the QB moving. In the best season under Steichen, Hurts was mobile on 48 out of 189 plays accounting for 25% of snaps. Despite being on the move more often in 2022, Hurts was just as effective with the highest completion percentage of his young career at 66%.
Over the last two seasons, Jalen Hurts has been contained to the pocket more often with his scramble percentage down to 16%. By getting his athletic quarterback a bit more mobile, Kellen Moore might be able to buy Hurts a few more seconds to make a decision instead of the pocket collapsing on him as it has done way too many times this year.
The Eagles offense will look to take another step in the right direction as they take on the Bengals in Week 8 at 1PM.
Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
