Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Hurts is going to be a fantasy superstar

We are closing in on the start of the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles season, and the hype surrounding the team and franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts continues to gain steam.

While I am happily going into this NFL season without much in terms of expectations for the Eagles, I am excited to see what this young quarterback and young coaching staff are able to accomplish.

Before we do go any further, I do want to explain myself when I mention not having much in terms of expectations this year. The last few seasons have been exhausting with the Super Bowl or bust mentality. This season should be about finding out what works with this new staff and what players are going to be here for the long term.

Any type of team success would just be the icing on the cake for the Philadelphia Eagles this year.

Jalen Hurts feels destined to be a Philadelphia Eagles fantasy football superstar.

With that said, let’s get back to why we are here: Jalen Hurts has a chance to be a fantasy football superstar this season. Don’t believe me? Matthew Berry of ESPN laid out a pretty good argument for this recently.

"Player A: 19.4 fantasy PPG, 165.3 pass YPG, 72.8 rush YPGPlayer B: 23.0 fantasy PPG, 229.8 pass YPG, 68.0 rush YPG“Fairly similar, right? You’d rather have Player B, obviously, but it’s within the same ballpark. Well, Player B is Jalen Hurts in the four games he was a starter as a rookie last season. Player A represents Lamar Jackson’s final four games he started as a rookie in 2018; you know, before he won the MVP (and everyone’s fantasy league for them) in 2019.”"

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Some pretty high praise from possibly the biggest name in fantasy sports analysis and some fantastic insight to back it up.

While the Eagles do have some young talent at the wide receiver position, you have to figure the bulk of Hurts’ fantasy football production will come from his legs.

In the four games Hurts started at the tail end of the 2020 season, he rushed for 272 yards and three touchdowns on 46 attempts. This 68 yards-per-game average would equal 1,156 rushing yards over a full seventeen-game schedule, pretty impressive stuff. While I would be astonished if Hurts were to rush for over 1,000 yards, I think it is fairly realistic he could exceed 800 rushing yards and roughly 8-9 touchdowns, especially when you factor in that the offensive line appears healthy and ready to get back to dominating the line of scrimmage for the Eagles.

I, for one, have been incredibly hard on Hurts in the past. As recently as last season, I was calling for the Eagles to stop playing him. But now, I’m starting to believe I may have been wrong, and grow more and more excited for the type of player he can be with each highlight that surfaces. As long as he is steady through the air this season, the sky is the limit for the young quarterback.

Carson Wentz carried me for much of the 2017 fantasy football season, and I sure as heck will be targeting Jalen Hurts in my upcoming drafts.

The regular season is right around the corner, and just like everyone else in Philadelphia Eagles nation, I am freaking hyped. September 12th can not get here fast enough.