3 Reasons David Carr's 'Start Marcus Mariota Over Jalen Hurts' Hot Take is Correct

If you've been following this week's NFL news cycle at all, you've seen the hot take, and you've seen the fallout.

David Carr was on NFL Total Access and said the Eagles would be better off starting Marcus Mariota than Jalen Hurts at quarterback, and the internet has completely torn him apart for it.

But this guy's a former NFL quarterback, right? We have to give him some credit. Here are three reasons we should listen to Carr:

1. David Carr is an Expert on Bad Quarterback Play

"Clearly Jalen isn't comfortable reading through a defense ... some would say he's not even good at it"

- David Carr

David Carr is one of the NFL's foremost experts on not being comfortable reading through a defense. I mean how many guys can throw double-digit interceptions for five straight seasons!?

Carr, who threw more interceptions (71) than touchdowns (65) in the NFL, consistently proved that few quarterbacks are as bad at reading through defenses as him.

So while you may think that a 66.5% completion percentage indicates that Jalen Hurts is making some good reads, and that a guy who has only one more interception in his first four seasons than Carr had in his first two combined is doing okay, maybe you should trust Carr's expertise.

2. Marcus Mariota Has Never Played as Well as Hurts, so He Must Be Due

Jalen Hurts this season:

• 66.5% completion percentage
• 4.4% touchdown rate
• 2.5% interception rate
• 93.8 quarterback rating

Marcus Mariota's career average:

• 62.6% completion percentage
• 4.4% touchdown rate
• 2.6% interception rate
• 89.3 quarterback rating

In fact, Mariota has exactly one season as a starter (2018) with a better completion percentage than Hurts' career average.

So I mean, he's gotta be due right? If Jalen Hurts is as bad as bad-QB expert David Carr says, then eventually Marcus Mariota will out-play him, right?

3. Jalen Hurts Winning MVP Isn't Part of the "Big Picture"

Carr says we need to focus on the big picture. That Hurts winning MVP isn't what's important, that we need to focus on winning the Super Bowl.

And you know what? Only two of the last 20 NFL MVPs have gone on to win the Super Bowl, so we wouldn't want to accidentally have Hurts win MVP and doom us to only a 10% shot at winning the title!

The current betting odds have Hurts ranked third in the MVP race, and the Eagles' +550 Super Bowl odds give us an implied 15.4% chance of winning it all.

There's your hard evidence that if Hurts keeps playing and stays in the MVP race it will hurt our Super Bowl chances.

Nick Sirianni, please listen to David Carr. Mariota is the secret weapon to remove Hurts from MVP consideration and make us better Super Bowl contenders.

Trust him, he knows a thing or two about bad quarterback play.

In other Eagles news: