Philadelphia Eagles news: Jalen Hurts left off Chris Simms’ top 40 QB list

A yearly bit, NFL analyst and Pro Football Talk podcast host Chris Simms released his “Top 40 Countdown” ranking who he believes the top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL are heading into the regular season. A list that upset quite a number of Philadelphia Eagles fans, Jalen Hurts was not included.

Here’s how Simms’ rankings ended up shaping out:

It’s pretty reasonable to state that the first 23 players on this list are better that Hurts, but after that a more appropriate debate emerges. Both Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston are coming off a year where they split reps behind a retiring Drew Brees, Daniel Jones and Drew Lock have not had promising starts to their NFL careers, Marcus Mariota and Tyrod Taylor are backups, etc.

While Simms does takes into account potential when it comes to ranking rookies on a list like this, including Kellen Mond – who was drafted to sit behind Kirk Cousins – is a tad questionable as well.

Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was not included in Chris Simms’ ranking of the top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL.

With all of that said, it’s completely logical to not hold Hurts in the highest of esteems as things currently stand. Despite the otherworldly hype that’s surrounded his name since Carson Wentz was traded earlier this offseason, Hurts hasn’t done a whole lot in the NFL to justify his starter status. He flashed some arm potential during the Philadelphia Eagles late loss to Arizona last season, but really struggled to move the ball through the air the following two games.

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Hurts finished the 2020 season with a 52.0 completion percentage and a 41.0 QBR – both ranked towards the bottom of all qualified quarterbacks. Hurts ability to create and extend with his legs adds another layer to the discussion, but ultimately speaking it’s still a passing league. It’s understandable as to why Simms opted towards rookies with bigger arms like Trey Lance and Justin Fields in his rankings.

This also isn’t the first time someone outside of the Philly media has appeared “down” on Jalen Hurts heading into 2021. Pro Football Focus (PFF) has repeatedly expressed a lack of faith in Hurts moving forward, and a majority of the national oddsmakers have the Eagles pinned for a last place finish. While the *national media* isn’t always correct, it’s worth highlighting that multiple outlets don’t view Hurts in the same light as people who directly cover/support the Eagles.

Ultimately speaking, the best way to describe Hurts heading into his second year is as followed: inconclusive. Four starts simply isn’t enough time to evaluate how good a quarterback is or isn’t, especially when a majority of said games involved Hurts playing with a run-first mentality.

With that said, the odds are relatively in Hurts’ favor looking ahead. He’s the unquestioned starter behind a veteran offensive line, DeVonta Smith is his new WR1, and he’s surrounded by an offensive coaching staff that’s been praised for the player development side of things. We’ll likely know by the trade deadline if Hurts is in fact a top 40 quarterback in the NFL, or if Chris Simms was actually correct in his assessment to ignore the Eagles current QB1.