Philadelphia Eagles: Expect much more RPOs with Jalen Hurts at QB

Hurts could bring something old and new to the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense.

Once upon a time in the not too distant past, the Philadelphia Eagles had one of the most exciting offenses in the NFL.

Was it the most explosive offense, the most prolific offense, and did it feature the best weapons the league had to offer? No, but with the resources available to him, Doug Pederson crafted a look so revolutionary that it was quickly incorporated into their own offensive playbooks.

That’s right; we’re talking about the RPO.

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Now granted, Pederson wasn’t the first coach to design a play with a run and throw option. College programs have been running the play for years, and the read options initial innovator, Chip Kelly, was entering his final year in the league when Pederson got his first head coaching gig. But how Pederson chose to incorporate the look, especially with a non-running quarterback in the game, arguably fueled their Super Bowl run as much as Jim Schwartz‘s pocket collapsing front four.

And yet, for one reason or another, this aspect of the offense has all but disappeared whenever Carson Wentz is in the game.

Call it the perks of having a quarterback with top-10 arm talent, or the curse of having a quarterback who too often checks out of called plays and avoids taking the easy yards for a bigger look down the line, but whenever Wentz has been in the game, the Eagles’ offense has been far more vertical and more middle of the field-based than Nick Foles‘ facilitator approach.

In that regard, Jalen Hurts’ skillset may actually be tantalizing enough for Pederson to dig out his old playbooks and throw some looks at the New Orleans Saints that they haven’t seen since Alshon Jeffery dropped that infamous pass in the Divisional Round of the 2018 NFL playoffs.

Sidebar: The decision to avoid using RPOs with Carson Wentz is the game never really made sense to me. He’s a good runner, a solid athlete, and just as capable of completing a seven-yard pass as any other quarterback in the NFL. Why not see how that look, well, looks with him in the game?

Paired up with a tantalizing duo of pass-catching, homerun hitting running backs in Miles Sanders and Boston Scott, Hurts’ ability to read the rush and either make a play with his arm or a play with his legs could help the Birds pick up some easy yards against one of the league’s better defenses, all the while opening up passing lanes down the field for speedy receivers like Jalen Reagor and John Hightower – remember him? – to get open in single coverage. Factor in reliable middle of the field pass-catchers like Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, and Greg Ward, and suddenly, the Eagles’ offense could actually look pretty good, as opposed to borderline sickening and all but unwatchable.

I mean, think about it, if Foles could have run the ball as well as he could distribute the ball like a D1 college point guard running the pick-and-roll, he’d have never been traded to the then-St. Louis Rams all the way back in 2015 for Sam Bradford – who, funny enough, was traded away to make way for Wentz in 2016. Say what you will about Hurts – that he got benched in college for Tua Tagovailoa, he lacks NFL intangibles, or that his breakout 2019 campaign was a byproduct of playing for Lincoln Riley – but he’s more than capable of reading a defense and hitting his first look on a swing pass or a quick slant. Factor in his ability to pick up yards on the ground with legit 4.59 speed, and suddenly, running a run, run, pass option – the RRPO if you will – becomes both a possibility and a borderline necessity to get this team through Week 14 and onto a much more favorable final three-game slate of games.

In a weird way, that sort of role – a game manager with run-ability – is why Nick Saban recruited Hurts to play quarterback at Alabama in the first place.

Of course Jalen Hurts is a Houston fan, why wouldn’t he be?. dark. Next

In 2017 and 2018, when the Philadelphia Eagles had their back against the wall, they turned to a backup quarterback and a streamlined offensive approach to get things back on track. While this year’s version of those events is a rather unique telling of the same basic beats, the solution remains the same, even if it may ultimately be fruitless because of the team’s record. Whether Jalen Hurts sets the world on fire or is ultimately benched for Carson Wentz by Week 15, if Doug Pederson wants to put himself and his team in the best position to succeed down the stretch, he may be wise to take a page from his winning playbook and a little spark to a burned-out offense.

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