Top 10 Quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft: No. 7 Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

History

After the Senior Bowl last month, the clip below started to make the rounds as proof that Hurts would be sliding down the draft rankings and was not a first-round quarterback. Hurts, along with other quarterbacks this weekend, took nasty sacks. But this is the one that drew the most criticism.

While this obviously doesn’t look great, taking one bad play and using it as a plebiscite on a player’s abilities is just as ridiculous as using a highlight reel to prove a player’s elite capabilities.

Bradlee Anae is moving up the draft boards after his Senior Bowl performance, which included the above sack on Hurts, so that’s good for him. But that was a flukey play, against a left tackle that seemed wholly unprepared for the pass-rush at that moment. Hurts can be forgiven for not expecting pressure that quickly.

The video below made far less of an impression on people after the Senior Bowl. Like the Hurts sack, one play can’t tell you everything you need to know about a quarterback. Yet, it is this pass that most impressed me about Hurts and should remind scouts that Hurts has a ton of raw potential.

Hurts came out of high school as a four-star recruit, known as a dual-threat quarterback from Texas that could burn defenses in the air or on the ground. In his senior year of high school, Hurts earned 26 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing touchdowns, according to 247 Sports.

Recruited by Lane Kiffin to attend Alabama in 2016, Hurts got his first start the second game of his freshman season. He was the first freshman quarterback to start for the prestigious football program in over 30 years.

His freshman season was historical, as he led the Crimson Tide to a 12-0 regular-season record and entered the College Football Playoffs as the top-ranked program in the country. They eventually lost to the Clemson Tigers in the title game, 35-31.

It had been in incredible freshman season for Hurts. He had thrown for 23 touchdowns and rushed for 954 yards, good for 13 touchdowns. He had broken half a dozen school records and looked to be one of the up and coming quarterbacks of his generation.

His sophomore season was a bit of a regression, scoring 11 fewer touchdowns for Alabama. But once again he led the Crimson Tide back to the playoffs with a 13-1 final record, entered the playoffs as the fourth-seed and this time around defeated the Clemson Tigers during the first round in stunning fashion, 24-6. Hurts was headed back to the title game for the second season in a row.

This can be considered the high water mark for his career in Tuscaloosa, as the title game did not start as expected. Hurts got pulled halfway through the game for true freshman Tua Tagovailoa. Tua brought the team back and won the title game for the Crimson Tide against Jake Fromm and the Georgia Bulldogs.

The next season, Tua won the starting job and Hurts sat on the bench as a backup. While he still got opportunities to play, it wasn’t the same as starting. Tua was still winning the games for Alabama and was the face of the Crimson Tide program, the newest freshman phenom out of the SEC.

In 2019, Hurts left Alabama to start for the Oklahoma Sooners. The Oklahoma program, run by Lincoln Riley, had just sent two quarterbacks into the NFL as back-to-back first overall picks, in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Hurts was eligible to play right away as a graduate transfer and would have one final season of eligibility in the NCAA. One last chance to start in college and make a good impression on NFL teams before the 2020 NFL Draft.