Sportsnaut
This will surely rankle the Philadelphia Eagles fan base. Fifty NFL coaches and executives rated quarterbacks like Jared Goff, Justin Herbert and Jayden Daniels ahead of Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts in The Athletic’s NFL QB Tiers.
Hurts was tied for ninth with Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud and considered a Tier 2 quarterback. The signal-callers listed ahead of Hurts include: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, Daniels, Herbert and Goff. (Mahomes, Burrow, Allen, Jackson and Stafford were listed as Tier 1 quarterbacks.)
According to The Athletic, a Tier 1 quarterback “can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure-passing situations. He has no real holes in his game.” A Tier 2 QB is described as “can carry his team sometimes but not as consistently. He can handle pure-passing situations in doses and/or possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above Tier 3. He has a hole or two in his game.”
Despite winning a Super Bowl and being named MVP, reaching another Super Bowl, earning two Pro Bowl selections, finishing as MVP runner-up in 2022 and going 46-20 in 66 starts with the Birds, Hurts still doesn’t get the respect he deserves from those “in-the-know” around the league.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando points out that Hurts had the lowest average tier vote for any QB coming off a Super Bowl championship since Eagles quarterback Nick Foles.
“Hurts is always a tough one for me,” a former GM told The Athletic. “I think he is a 3. They are very talented around him, and he is not as consistent as a passer. They have a strong defense, great playmakers, great offensive line. He is able to function that way. But I don’t know that he is the one that elevates them. That is not a slight.
“He is a good player. But putting him in that 2 category, I don’t see that.”
A current general manager added: “This is going to sound like I don’t like him, but I do. Just by the definition, I feel he is more of a 3. Am I on an island with that?”
While Goff, Herbert and Daniels threw for more yards and touchdowns than Hurts in 2024, it ultimately comes down to playoff performance. Hurts is 6-3, with two Super Bowl appearances and one championship, while the other three are a combined 6-8 with no Super Bowl wins. In fact, Herbert has only appeared in the playoffs twice and lost both games.
In the end, Hurts doesn’t care about these rankings as it all comes down to what he does on the field. But Eagles fans will defend their quarterback to the death.
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