Crossing Broad
They say you’re not supposed to feed the trolls, but Pete Prisco isn’t exactly some hot taker. He’s been covering the NFL for three decades and worked/maybe still works as a beat writer who goes into locker rooms. I dunno. Apparently he still covers the Jaguars down in DUUUUUUUUUUUUVAL. That being said, this is high comedy:
Imagine you just watched Jalen Hurts go 18-3 and win Super Bowl MVP. The Chiefs game planned to stuff Saquon Barkley. Hurts completes 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns, throws one bad pick, but adds 72 rushing yards on 11 carries and a tush push touchdown. He hits DeVonta Smith on a beautiful deep ball and moves the sticks with his legs. Then you sit down a week later and tell everyone that you’d rather have C.J. Stroud, Dak Prescott, and Baker Mayfield, and you call Jalen Hurts vs. Trevor Lawrence “even.”
Does it seem to you like Jalen Hurts came out of the Super Bowl getting even less respect than he had going into it? Some of the talking heads have twisted themselves into pretzels. To say that you’d rather have Stroud, Dak, and Baker for the next five years is insane. Stroud had fewer touchdowns and more interceptions in year #2. He got worse as a sophomore and he doesn’t do anything with his legs. Dak is coming off an injury, he’s turning 32, and the reason he threw for 4,500 yards two years ago is because he attempted 590 passes. He’s 2-5 in the postseason and has never taken his team to the conference title game. Baker Mayfield had a nice season and probably doesn’t get as much respect as he deserves, but he also threw 16 picks and lost at home to the Commanders in the Wild Card round after a botching a handoff and turning the ball over.
Trevor Lawrence, then, is just a homer pick. The guy is one year younger than Hurts has had one good NFL season. You can say that the Jags stink and he doesn’t have the weapons other QBs have, but nobody outside of Jacksonville is picking Lawrence over Hurts to run their team. Most people INSIDE of Jacksonville probably feel the same way.
If you wanna make a case that Hurts rode Saquon Barkley this season, okay. He didn’t throw the ball a lot and played the role of game manager during the winning streak. But he also cooked the Steelers, Commanders, and Chiefs through the air, the latter two performances in the NFCCG and Super Bowl. He rarely turned the ball over and his physical makeup allows the Birds to run football’s most unstoppable play. There’s no debate to be had here. Hurts is a tier 1 quarterback due to his varied skill set and mental makeup.
The post Jalen Hurts Wins Super Bowl MVP and Somehow Ends Up with Less Respect (Alt. Headline – “Pete Prisco is an Idiot”) appeared first on Crossing Broad.
