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Philadelphia Eagles: After All This, Is Jalen Hurts Still The Guy For 2022?

By Jacob Schyvinck

Jan 16, 2022; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) drops back to pass in the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a NFC Wild Card playoff football game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2022; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) drops back to pass in the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a NFC Wild Card playoff football game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Philadelphia Eagles went on a run with Jalen Hurts to the playoffs. After this performance, where are we in terms of a potential franchise quarterback?

The Philadelphia Eagles season came to an abrupt halt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the Eagles fell 31-15 on the road. The offense looked lost until the fourth quarter, and the defense didn’t get enough pressure early to hide some issues in coverage over the middle of the field.

A lot of the attention went to Jalen Hurts, and rightly so. He did miss a touchdown early to Quez Watkins on a deep post, had several occasions where he quickly dropped his eyes to the rush, and struggled to process things quickly overall.

Those issues were hidden a bit during the Eagles run to the postseason, where they bamboozled opponents with a multi-faceted running attack, using Hurts and their stable of running backs to their advantage. They ran the ball, played tough on defense, and got a key play in close wins.

When the run game stalled on Sunday against a good rush defense, Hurts was asked to do a bit more in terms of executing on 3rd and medium and 3rd and long. Save for a few plays here and there and some softer coverage in the fourth quarter, it was overall a struggle.

So after all of this in 2022, should Hurts be the guy going forward? There will be some overreaction to this game, especially in such a mismatch in terms of rosters. However, we are now 19 starts in to the Hurts experience at quarterback in Philly. How confident do we feel?

It’s fair to say “not very”. Hurts still has to speed things up post-snap. There are still big plays left out there that he misses. Now, Philadelphia hasn’t done him any favors by switching philosophies down the stretch and not giving Hurts more to do in the passing game. But, in doing that, there was some “kid gloves” that were brought out. When Hurts needed to find things in the middle of the field, layer throws, it didn’t happen in this one.

With how the 2022 NFL Draft class looks at the quarterback position, the Philadelphia Eagles probably should just roll with Jalen Hurts in 2022 to see if there’s a jump in the second full season. They have three first round picks to build around him some more. This will be the biggest offseason for Hurts to grow, and we need to see it.

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