Why Eagles, Carson Wentz didn't develop Jalen Hurts the way the Chiefs developed Patrick Mahomes

Andy Reid has had a Hall of Fame-worthy career as a head coach because he believes in developing quarterbacks.

In 1999, when he became the Eagles' head coach, he drafted Donovan McNabb second overall. Rather than install McNabb as the quarterback right away, he brought in Doug Pederson, a career backup, to start in order to give McNabb time to develop.

McNabb didn't take over until Week 10 that season. By the next season, the Eagles were in the playoffs. In 2001, they began a run of four straight NFC championship games, with a Super Bowl appearance.

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Reid did the same thing in 2017 when the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes in the first round, No. 12 overall. Rather than have Mahomes start right away, the Chiefs kept veteran Alex Smith for one more season.

Mahomes started the season finale, then took over for good, becoming one of the most prolific quarterbacks over the last three seasons. He led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl in each of the last two seasons, winning one. 

Reid said that's no accident as he returns to Lincoln Financial Field to face the Eagles. And here, it's possible to draw comparisons to Jalen Hurts' development with the Eagles.

"We had Alex Smith here, and Alex was great with Patrick, and let him into his world, which is a fortress," Reid said on a conference call. "Some of those guys can put up walls and not let him find out the fine points they might have as veterans.

"But Alex kept it wide open. He let Patrick kind of see how he took care of his family, how he worked out, how he balanced his diet and everything else that goes into being a quarterback in this league."

It's safe to assume that Carson Wentz did not go to those lengths last season with Hurts.

Nor should he have.

After all, Wentz was the franchise quarterback when Hurts was drafted in the second round in 2020. That came less than a year after Wentz had signed a contract extension worth as much as $128 million.

Hurts was not drafted to succeed Wentz, unlike Mahomes with Smith. In 2017, Smith was 33 years old. Even then, Reid was imagining an offense to suit Mahomes. Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson never did that for Hurts because Wentz was his guy.

Until he wasn't.

By all accounts, Wentz did help Hurts out and offered suggestions, even after Wentz was benched against the Packers on Dec. 6 for the rest of the season.

But Wentz was clearly unhappy, though, to the point where he wanted to be traded. And he reportedly wanted no part of competing with Hurts for the starting job this season.

Wentz got his wish, getting traded to Indianapolis, and Pederson got fired. Nick Sirianni took over as coach and used the entire offseason to design an offense to suit Hurts' skills.

Granted, Mahomes was going to be a great quarterback whether Smith was there or not. And Hurts would be a work in progress, even if Wentz had helped him the way Smith helped Mahomes.

It's just that Reid and the Chiefs identified their quarterback of the future and made sure they nurtured him. So it wasn't a surprise that Mahomes took off as soon as he got the chance. 

Hurts, for one, saw that potential growing up in Texas, where Mahomes was a high school prodigy.

"Being from Texas, obviously, you watch him and the things he did at Whitehouse," Hurts said about the high school Mahomes attended in Tyler. "He’s one of the greatest to come through Texas. A lot of respect for him."

Eagles cornerback Steve Nelson saw this, too. He was a starting cornerback for the Chiefs in 2017 when Mahomes was the scout team quarterback, often going against him in practice. 

"Me and my old teammates, who have gone and retired now, we talk about it today," Nelson said. "How he used to shred us on the first-team defense. Stuff he was doing was crazy. We always knew he had talent."

Andre Dillard reinvents himself

Andre Dillard will make his second straight start at left tackle in place of Jordan Mailata, who is out with a knee injury.

To Dillard's credit, he never sulked when Mailata beat him out in preseason for the starting job. And he didn't sulk when the Eagles signed Mailata to a four-year, $64 million extension a few weeks ago, thus putting Dillard's future with the Eagles in limbo.

Dillard was the Eagles' first-round pick in 2019, while Mailata, taken in the seventh round in 2018, was an Australian rugby player who had never even played organized football before he was drafted.

"With that whole competition, we both really battled our tails off for that, and just continued to push each other every single day," Dillard said. "At the end of the day, that’s what it was all about. We had fun doing it, we made each other better.

"When I found out it was his job, I was like, ‘Well, OK.’ Coach (Nick Sirianni) is always talking about embracing your role on the team. 'Be a star in your role,’ he would always say. I just took that to heart.

"I really just think about what’s in front of me. Embracing the role I’m in right now. I don’t think too much about that. But I am just over-the-top happy for Jordan. He’s gotten an amazing story and he deserves all of it, so major props to him."

And major props to Dillard for the way he has handled everything.

Prediction

The Chiefs, who have appeared in the last two Super Bowls, are reeling. Their defense ranks 30th in yards allowed, at 430 per game, and 31st in points allowed per game, at 31.7.

So, yes, the Chiefs' success is predicated on outscoring the opponent, and that hasn't worked out too well in their 1-2 start.

Scoring won't be a problem against the Eagles, who tried to go toe-to-toe last week against the Cowboys and were humiliated 41-21.

But the Eagles can keep it close by running the ball with Miles Sanders and Hurts, something they foolishly did not do against the Cowboys. The Chiefs allow an average of 160.3 yards per game rushing, ranked 31st.

The Eagles, who average 129.3 rushing yards per game, fifth in the NFL, can exploit that. But they are also playing three new offensive linemen in Dillard, Landon Dickerson and a mystery starter in place of Mailata, Brandon Brooks and Isaac Seumalo, who are all out with injuries.

Still, it's the Eagles' only chance, and it still might not be enough because Mahomes can strike quickly with his talented offense that includes wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce.

That will be enough for Reid to get his 100th win with the Chiefs. That will make him the only coach in NFL history with at least 100 wins with 2 different teams. Reid is the Eagles' all-time leader in wins with 140.

Score: Chiefs 34, Eagles 29

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.