Philadelphia Eagles: RGIII has great expectations for Jalen Hurts

Don’t look now, Philadelphia Eagles fans, but Robert Griffin III is at it again, only this time, he’s showing some love to the offensive side of the ball.

That’s right, as you may or may not know, Griffin shot off a pretty encouraging tweet earlier in the week complementing Howie Roseman and company for building a really deep set of lines, offensive and defensive, ahead of the 2022 NFL season, with college’s “Incredible Hulk” filling a backup role. This, understandably, drew rave reviews from Eagles fans who once hated the Baylor product for his athletic gifts, and similarly spurned on hurt feelings from football fans in close proximity to the Nation’s Capitol, as their preferred team hasn’t exactly been garnering rave reviews for their offseason activities.

And yet, no one is really looking for defensive line opinions from the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year. No, folks wanted to hear what Griffin had to say about the offense, especially the quarterback position, as Jalen Hurts and RGIII are incredibly similar offensive players with similar builds, similar rushing abilities, and similar stats during their first seasons as starters (more on that here).

Fortunately, RGIII decided the first Friday in August was a perfect time to chime in on the offensive side of the Philadelphia Eagles’ proverbial ball, with a similarly appreciative tweet that sets some pretty high expectations for the third-year quarterback.

RGIII has great expectations for the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB1.

Jalen Hurts has put in work over the offseason; he worked with a QB guru during the offseason, has been throwing with his receivers, including one, A.J. Brown, before he was even technically on the team, and has returned to South Philly with a new look, a more chiseled physique, and no question about his role on the team.

And yet, some have still openly questioned whether or not Hurts can be the man to run the offense. They’ll point to his below-average passing numbers, his unwillingness/inability to take advantage of the entire field, and his ability to largely overshadow these issues with his talents as a runner. If Hurts remains a below-average passer, as these observers often say, the Eagles’ offense will forever have a hard-capped ceiling and will never be able to get where they want to be, which is a consistent Super Bowl contender.

Fortunately, RGIII thinks Hurts have everything in place to take a serious step forward in the passing department this fall and take the Philadelphia Eagles to new heights as a result.

That, my friends, is very high praise.

Theoretically, Griffin’s comments are dead on; A.J. Brown’s addition will open up the field in a big way, giving more one-on-one looks to the likes of DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert plus the slot duo of Quez Watkins, and Zach Pascal and an effective RPO game build up with Miles Sanders could create an incredibly deadly offensive attack that opposing teams will have fits trying to stop. If that happens, opposing teams will have to play the Eagles straight, with zone defensive looks to neutralize Hurts’ rushing attack, and thus, the OklaBama prospect might just have an opportunity to benefit from games with completion percentages in the 70s or even 80s a la more than a few opposing QBs did against Philly last fall.

Ultimately, no amount of praise or criticism will affect Jalen Hurts’ on-field game for the Philadelphia Eagles this fall. If he takes a step forward, fans will claim they were “ride-or-die from Day 1,” and if he struggles, fans will burn their 2/1 jerseys in disgust over a promising season ruined by poor play. Still, it’s nice to see a former QB show some love to a current player on an opposing team, as RGIII gets nothing but slack from Washington fans for sharing his opinion.