The Eagles made a shocking pick Friday night on day two of the NFL Draft when they selected Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts with the fifty-third pick in the second round. Hurts is listed at six foot two, two hundred and eighteen pounds played college football at Alabama, and then transferred to Oklahoma for his senior season.
Hurts led Alabama to three national championship appearances. He was replaced in the second half by backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and the Crimson Tide won the title in 2018. After his junior year, he transferred to Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to the Big 12 title. He was a runner up for the Heisman Trophy in 2019 to LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.
In his collegiate career, Hurts completed 682 of 1,047 attempts for (65.1 per) for 9,477 yards, 80 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. He also rushed for 3,274 yards (5.3 per) for 43 touchdowns and has even caught a receiving touchdown.
Hurts has won numerous awards, including a two-time SEC champion (2016, 2018), SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2016), SEC Freshman of the Year (2016), First-team all SEC (2016), First-team All-Big 12 (2019), and a national champion.
While this pick did not make sense to a certain degree, I believe that the Eagles picked him because of Carsen Wentz’s injury history. Even if Wentz is healthy, Hurts could be in a similar role as Saints backup quarterback Taysom Hill.
On the plus side, Hurts is a mobile quarterback and can get out of situations if the Offensive line collapses. While Eagles fans may not like the pick, I think it won’t take much convincing if Hurts puts a hurting on opponents next season.
While they did need to add other pieces, drafting a quarterback is not a bad option if your starter is constantly hurt. I would still like to see the Eagles add a couple of offensive linemen to protect not only Wentz but Hurts as well.
