Do the Philadelphia Eagles need to formally commit to Jalen Hurts?

Barring something crazy happening during the NFL Draft, everybody pretty much knows Jalen Hurts will be the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback in 2021. The team opted against adding a high-tier backup like Jacoby Brissett or Tyrod Taylor during free agency, instead settling on a rather uninspiring option in Joe Flacco – essentially guaranteeing that Hurts wouldn’t have any major competition this summer.

However, despite the writing essentially being on the wall at this stage of the offseason, the Eagles are still operating under the premise that there will be some sort of “QB competition” moving forward. Flacco himself repeatedly stated his desire to compete during his introductory press conference, and the Eagles coaching staff/front office haven’t made any sort of announcement regarding Hurts being the unquestioned starter.

So, the question arises…do the Philadelphia Eagles actually need to name Hurts the starter prior to training camp beginning?

On one side of the argument, the idea that Flacco has a legit shot at winning the starting job is a bit comical. He’s a 36 year old veteran coming off a fairly below average season, and the optics of going from Carson Wentz to Flacco would cause quite the uproar around the city of Philadelphia. One of the few things (if not the only thing) Eagles fans are excited about this year is the potential to watch Jalen Hurts play a full season.

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On the other side of the argument, the Eagles have run into complications in the past when it comes to *committing* to quarterbacks. There’s been a healthy amount of speculation in regards to the fact that the Eagles overcommitted to Wentz, ultimately leading to a lack of accountability by the since-traded QB.

Do the Philadelphia Eagles need to announce Hurts as the starter?

While committing to a #2 overall pick as your undisputed franchise QB is rather standard practice around the NFL these days, doing so with a former second-round pick who’s started just four games could complicate things inside the team’s young locker room. New head coach Nick Sirianni has endlessly preached the value of “competition” since accepting the Eagles job – undermining that just a few months into his tenure could easily rub people the wrong way.

It’s also worth mentioning that Ian Rapoport reported that the Eagles tried to trade up for BYU’s Zach Wilson prior to trading back. Clearly Howie Roseman and the rest of the Eagles front office aren’t as sold on Hurts as the fanbase appears to be.

Ultimately speaking, entering training camp with a pseudo-competition at the quarterback position does seem like the best plan of attack moving forward. It keeps the pressure on Jalen Hurts to continue improving the offseason, while simultaneously keeping Sirianni’s emphasis on “competing” alive.

Just like a lot of the young players on the Eagles roster, Hurts should have to win a starting job this offseason. That’s just the way things typically go after a 4-11-1 season.

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While I fully expect Hurts to blow Flacco out of the water this summer during training camp and during the preseason, the hope is that such a competition will help establish a solid culture moving forward around Sirianni, while simultaneously not over-inflating Hurts’ confidence as some sort of unquestioned franchise arm. It all feels a bit silly now, but keeping the mystery alive when it come to the QB position should prove worthwhile in the long run.

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