Jalen Hurts is a logical target for New England Patriots in 2020 NFL Draft

Will the New England Patriots target Jalen Hurts as the long-term replacement for Tom Brady in the 2020 NFL Draft?

With Tom Brady moving on, the quarterback position is completely up in the air for the New England Patriots. Will they move forward with Jarrett Stidham as their starter and see if he can grow into a legitimate franchise quarterback? Will they look to add a veteran option like Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston or Cam Newton? It is always difficult to predict what Bill Belichick will do and this is not an exception. Honestly, nothing would surprise me too much.

However, as I continue to look at potential quarterback options for this team, one name continues to stand out as an interesting fit. That player is Jalen Hurts, the former Alabama and Oklahoma quarterback who is a potential first-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Hurts is an extremely polarizing prospect who has a wide range of outcomes at the next level. He had a ton of success in college, winning a National Championship early in his career at Alabama and came in second in Heisman voting last season at Oklahoma. He put up ridiculous numbers throughout his college career and always led his teams to success.

That being said, Hurts is not your prototypical top-tier NFL quarterback prospect. He does most of his damage with his legs, shows shaky decision-making ability as a passer, a painfully long release and inconsistent accuracy. Hurts was always able to put up good passing numbers in college, but it never looked pretty. It is certainly fair to question his ability to make a consistent impact as a passer at the next level.

However, I still feel like there are parts of Hurts’ game that will appeal to the New England Patriots. First, he is a fantastic leader and a tremendously high character player. Hurts is known as a great teammate and handled losing his job to Tua Tagovailoa in 2018 incredibly well. He is extremely mature for his age and will interview well throughout the 2020 NFL Draft process.

If Belichick sees enough in Hurts’ game to consider taking him, he will undoubtedly call his old pal Nick Saban who has consistently raved about Hurts for many years. Hurts just feels like a quarterback who you can trust and Belichick will be able to back that up from an extremely trusted source.

While it is fair to question his passing profile from college, Hurts has undoubtedly grown in that area. He excelled in Oklahoma’s wide-open passing attack last season, showing more zip on his passes and better overall accuracy than ever before. Hurts just looked more natural as a passer than ever before in his final season in college.

He has also significantly improved throughout the 2020 NFL Draft process. Hurts has clearly been working hard on his mechanics since Oklahoma’s season ended, as he looked much more comfortable throwing the ball at the Senior Bowl and Combine. He has a more crisp throwing motion and that is only going to help with his accuracy going forward.

When it comes down to it, Hurts is only one of many potential quarterback options for the New England Patriots. They can go in many different directions at the position, but Hurts stands out as a player who the Pats would typically like. Watch out for him as a potential pick for the team when they go on the clock at No. 23 overall.