With the 53rd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Eagles select Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts …
Jalen Hurts Career Statistics
| Year | Age | Att | Comp | Comp% | PaYd | Y/A | PaTD | INT | RuYds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18.3 | 382 | 240 | 62.83% | 2780 | 7.3 | 23 | 9 | 954 |
| 2017 | 19.3 | 255 | 154 | 60.39% | 2081 | 8.2 | 17 | 1 | 855 |
| 2018 | 20.3 | 70 | 51 | 72.86% | 765 | 10.9 | 8 | 2 | 167 |
| 2019 | 21.3 | 340 | 237 | 69.71% | 3851 | 11.3 | 32 | 8 | 1298 |
Hurts has a positive passing resume playing at Alabama and Oklahoma. His yards per pass attempt rose every year of his collegiate career and his 11.3 Y/A in 2019 is the third-highest final season mark for a quarterback invited to the combine over the past 20 seasons. The strike against him there is the inflation of scheme transferring to Oklahoma, because the two passers ahead of him in that department were Kyler Murray in 2018 and Baker Mayfield in 2017.
A pro in his corner is that two of the highest programs in the country pushed to bring him on and work with him. But even incorporating his passing performance at Alabama, Hurts enters the NFL ranking in the 91st percentile in career Y/A (9.1), 90th in TD/INT rate (4.0:1) and 77th in completion rate (65.1%) for all passers since 2000.
Those marks are all well above the passing resume Lamar Jackson entered the league with. Hurts has elite athleticism (89th percentile) for his position to go with a major rushing trump card (3.274 yards and 43 career TDs) that has always been exploitable for fantasy purposes and has become increasingly gaining steam in the NFL. Hurts is not quite on Jackson’s level running the ball, but Jackson may have just kicked the door down for some team wondering if they can work with what Hurts does well.
That is not quite the case landing with the Eagles, where he will be a clear backup quarterback and buried behind Carson Wentz. There is a chance for some Taysom Hill-esque running game usage and spot plays, but Wentz is in the heart of a contract extension that runs through the 2024 season. The Eagles have a potential out year after 2022, but Wentz is their immediate and long term future at the position, turning 28-years-old this December.
