Philadelphia Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts is so much better than Taysom Hill
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts isn’t Taysom Hill. He’s much better.
‘The Philadelphia Eagles plan to use Jalen Hurts in a Taysom Hill role in 2020′.
How many times have you heard some variation of that quote in the last month? 10? 100? 1,000? It seems like you can’t read a single piece on Hurts’ potential fit in Philly without the evocation of New Orleans’ 30-year-old gadget quarterback, and I’ll admit I’ve done it too. Had Hurts been drafted by any other team, from the Cowboys to the Patriots, we’d be debating ad nauseam his ceiling as a pro, his long-term potential, or what his addition means for the team’s existing QB, but by saying those two words “Taysom Hill”, Howie Roseman has forever linked his 2020 second-round selection to another player on another team.
But here’s the thing that always gets me about comparing the duo: They really aren’t that comparable. Sure, both can be used as change of pace quarterbacks to spell an established signal-caller, both are talented runners who can pick up chunk plays from under center, and both wear single-digit numbers, but that’s about where the comparisons end.
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You know what? I’d actually like to take things a step further. Not only is it a stretch to compare Hurts and Hill physically, but it’s a pointless endeavor because the former is a much better player and it’s not even close.
I mean seriously, has the football world gone crazy? Are we really comparing a national champion Heisman Finalist former five-star recruit to a 27-year-old undrafted free agent who played five years at BYU that ranged from disastrous to average? Hurts wasn’t drafted in the second round to sell jerseys and tickets. Plenty of teams presumably had a second-round grade on the former Alabama/Oklahoma quarterback for the very same reason: Because he’s a dynamic athlete, a certified winner, and a dare I say a franchise caliber-player.
There’s also the fact that Hurts is a legit quarterback, not a supreme athlete who can throw the ball now and then. I’ll never forget that Hill initially rose to prominence with the Saints as a novelty special teamer who used his 6-foot-4, 221 frame (and 4.44 speed) to body returners as a gunner. While Hurts may occasionally catch a pass here and then when paired up with Carson Wentz on the field, his career will live or die based solely on his ability to play quarterback full time.
Sidebar: I’m glad Lamar Jackson effectively ended the era of out-of-touch player evaluators asking young, athletic, seriously talented, and usually black quarterbacks to switch positions during the pre-draft process. Granted, the Eagles signed Khalil Tate, a much less successful college quarterback in his own right, to transition to quarterback a la Greg Ward before him, but he was never going to make it in the NFL after a disastrous 2019 season.
And then there’s the subject of age. Granted, Hurts is entering his fourth NFL season this fall, but he’s already 30 years old and has never started a single professional game. Even if Hurts doesn’t start a game under his rookie contract, he’ll enter free agency at the still-young-for-a-QB age of 26. I get Sean Payton has potential plans to roll with Hill as a full-time starter at some point down the line when Drew Brees retires, but how old will he be when that actually goes down? Can you really still be a developmental quarterback at 31-32?
Am I crazy here? I mean I like Hill a ton as a do-it-all 21st-century offensive weapon, but he’s only completed six passes as a pro over three seasons. By contrast, Hurts completed 237 snaps in 2019 alone.
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Call me naive, but I firmly believe that the Philadelphia Eagles had a plan for Jalen Hurts when they drafted him 53rd overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. Could it even be as simple as a cheap-ish backup plan if Carson Wentz caught the coronavirus as suggested by Adam Schefter? That’s quite possibly the strangest theory I’ve heard thus far, but hey anything’s possible. However, even if Hurts ends up playing a similar role to Taysom Hill in 2020, that doesn’t mean the duo are similar players or have the same ceilings. Jalen Hurts is a quarterback period, and his NFL career will flourish or falter based on his ability to play that position at the game’s highest level.