Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts entered last offseason with the hopes of being the team’s starting quarterback. While he was doing his 5 a.m. workouts, Hurts was trying to block out the rumors that the Eagles were trying to acquire veteran quarterbacks like Houston Texans signal-caller Deshaun Watson and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
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However, after his performance this season, which led to him being named a Pro Bowl alternate, Hurts has earned the right to be the starting quarterback for the 2022 season.
During a joint press conference to discuss the 2021 season that ended with Sunday’s loss in the wild-card round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni spoke about Hurts and the job he did in his first full year as a starter. Roseman and the rest of the front office liked what they saw, stating that Hurts has earned the right to be the starting quarterback next season.
“When we talked about Jalen and the growth he had, really as a first-year starter and a second-year player, leading this team to the playoffs, we were tremendously impressed by his work ethic, his leadership,” Roseman said. “Last time we talked was during camp, and we said we wanted to see him take the bull by the horn, and he certainly did that.”
Hurts finished the regular season throwing for 3,144 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Hurts also became the third quarterback in the franchise’s history to lead the team in passing and rushing, gaining 784 yards on the ground and 10 rushing touchdowns.
Roseman stated that the next step from a front office perspective is to continue to build around Hurts to make sure that the team can maximize what he does well. With five of the first 100 picks in the upcoming draft, three of which are in the first round, the Eagles will have a chance to do that.
“I think for us, we got to do whatever we can to continue to help him develop,” Roseman said. “How do we do that? By surrounding him with really good players. Players continue to grow. That’s a huge part of developing. They grow how they are in their second year is not how they are going to be in years four, five, six, and seven, and they’re also products of the people around them. That’s on us to continue to build this team.”
When it comes to improving for his second season as a starter, Sirianni said he would talk to Hurts about the things he would like to see him get better at in the offseason. Sirianni said he was confident that he would be able to help Hurts get better based on his previous coaching periods, including his last job as the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts.
One of the things that Hurts has to work on is anticipating when receivers would get open. One of the ways that Sirianni plans to do that is to suggest that Hurts work on the field with that aspect of his game and spend a lot more time on film study in the offseason.
“We will have a very detailed plan for that,” Sirianni said. “We’ve been doing this with the quarterbacks for a long time. I’m fortunate enough to have been around really good quarterbacks that have also taught me. I learned a lot from Frank (Reich) and how he went about his process of how he developed quarterbacks and being around Philip Rivers, who played for 17 years in the NFL. These are things that I’ve taken from them of what they did in the offseason to make sure that they were playing at a higher level.”
Having Hurts return as the quarterback next season was the right move. Hurts has shown a continued ability to develop and get better and still has the potential to be one of the more dynamic quarterbacks in the league because of his mobility. Hurts has also shown that he can be a good leader by the way his teammates have rallied around him.
Hurts did get better in the accuracy department, but there is still room for improvement. The more experience that Hurts gets, the more accurate he will become. As a young quarterback, Hurts still has to decipher some of the more exotic coverages and blitz looks from defenses that are more complex than what he faced in college.
Having Hurts back also allows the Eagles to make more moves to address other parts of the offense and the defense. Hurts is still on his rookie deal, giving the Eagles some room to add pieces that they hope will help earn them an NFC East title and advance past the first round of the playoffs next season.
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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
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