Philadelphia Eagles: Jeffrey Lurie shows support for Jalen Hurts

Jeffrey Lurie has a pretty big say in what the Philadelphia Eagles do as a franchise, and rightfully so.

If he doesn’t like the way a head coach operates, he’s within his rights as the team’s owner to let them go. If he wants to give Howie Roseman a lifetime contract and write deals with void years a half-decade into the future, that’s his prerogative too. And if he doesn’t think a quarterback has franchise potential, he can cut bait no matter how much the team has invested in said player.

Need proof? Well, look no further than how Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay handled the Carson Wentz situation last year. Despite paying a pretty hefty sum for his services a spring prior, Irsay reportedly didn’t like how his quarterback fared down the stretch and was bullish on moving off of his contract, even at a “loss,” for some fresh blood… even if calling 37-year-old Matt Ryan “fresh” is a pretty loose interpretation of the word.

Fortunately for most fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie doesn’t appear to have checked out on Jalen Hurts and instead appears bullish on his development as a franchise-caliber quarterback moving forward.

The Philadelphia Eagles owner is willing to see how the Jalen Hurts plays out.

Every player doesn’t enter the NFL a ready-made contributor.

There are first-round picks who take a few years to get their feet under them –  Brandon Graham comes to mind – and there are sixth-round picks, like Jason Kelce, who start right out of the gates as a rookie and hold that role for the remainder of the of their careers.

Jalen Hurts sort of falls somewhere in the middle.

A second-round pick out of Oklahoma who initially rose to national prominence during his three-year tenure at Alabama, Hurts was widely considered a top quarterback prospect heading into the 2020 NFL Draft but wasn’t believed to be in the same category as Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, and Justin Herbert, who were rightfully drafted in the top-10.

Had he been drafted by a team like the Green Bay Packers instead of Jordan Love, it’s entirely possible Hurts would have only seen the field in garbage time or as a reserve in place of Aaron Rodgers but fortunately- or not, depending on your opinion – that wasn’t the case. No, after being used as a weird Wildcat quarterback during the first half of his rookie season, Hurts was thrust into action in relief of Carson Wentz and held the reins ever since save a Week 13 bout versus the New York Jets due to injury and a Week 18 game versus Dallas where the starter near-exclusively sat out.

Was Hurtz perfect? No, his problems have been very well documented, but clearly, he showed enough to keep the Philadelphia Eagles organization from the top down interested in his continued development, as the following quote from Jeffrey Lurie clearly shows.

Now granted, comparing Josh Allen and Hurts isn’t really fair. Allen was a much “better” prospect coming out of Wyoming, was drafted 46 picks higher, and was lauded for having a borderline generational cannon for an arm. Allen was expected to become a franchise quarterback when he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2018, whereas Hurts was immediately slotted into a backup quarterback role behind another former top-10 selection.

Still, it did take Allen a few years to become as good as he is now, and even if Hurts doesn’t have the same ceiling, he too could see his case for a long-term starting role cemented or tarnished based on his development or on-field regression in Year 3.

Could Lurie’s opinion change if the Ls start to stack up? You bet, but right now, he’s behind Hurts, which certainly means a lot to the soon-to-be third-year signal-caller.

Will Jalen Hurts finally silence the doubters in 2022? Will he excel in an offense re-loaded with very good players across the board, or will he instead struggle to overcome his issues and regress versus teams who have a better idea of what’s coming? Only time will tell, but for now, the Philadelphia Eagles appear to be Jalen Hurts’ franchise until proven otherwise.