ClutchPoints
Ask ten or so NFL fans what they think about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and you’re guaranteed to get a different answer each time.
“He’s a top-five quarterback.” “He’s mid.” “He’s good, but not really top-five material.” “He’s awful, and the Eagles should trade him.”
Even after winning a Super Bowl last season, these comments never really went away. After the Eagles had a dreadful year this season that ended in an early exit, the discussion around Hurts has only intensified. Is Hurts a great quarterback who was saddled by the curse that was Kevin Patullo? Or is he simply not as elite as his ardent fans say he is?
Hurts’ inconsistency over the last few years has been a major factor in these conversations. The fact of the matter is that Hurts has been maddeningly inconsistent over the course of his career. He’ll have a season like last year, where he’ll throw for fewer yards but post his highest completion percentage of his career. Or, the Eagles QB will have a season like this year, where his air yardage is up, but his completion rate is the lowest it’s been since his first year as a full-time starter.
Well, the answer may lie with who’s been coaching him up. With Patullo getting fired this offseason, the Eagles are once again on the hunt for a new offensive coordinator. That also means that Hurts will have a sixth offensive coordinator in his seventh year in the league, as a post on the r/NFL subreddit pointed out. Going back to his college years, Hurts has cycled through 10 different OCs in 11 years.
When you look at some of the best quarterbacks in the league who entered at the same time as Hurts, their teams often surround the star with a consistent coaching staff. Patrick Mahomes has only had two offensive coordinators in his nine-year career. Josh Allen has three in his eight years in the league. Joe Burrow, who entered the league in the same year as the Eagles quarterback, has two OCs in that time period. Lamar Jackson has three in his eight-year career, with one of them being the OC for just one year in his rookie season. Dak Prescott might be the outlier, but even he hasn’t experienced the same rate of coaching turnover as Hurts, having four OCs in nine years.
It’s no wonder, then, that Hurts hasn’t looked consistently great throughout his career. Talent matters, yes, and the Eagles quarterback has that and then some. He’s a mobile quarterback who has great accuracy and can make big-time throws when needed. However, quarterbacks rely heavily on their familiarity with the offense to succeed.
Different coaches have different ways of how they want a play to be run. They might ask the quarterback to take a different dropback here, or go under center instead of shotgun. Their read progression might also be different; how they...
