If the Philadelphia Eagles use one of their three first-round selections on a Quarterback Jalen Hurts will compete to keep his job as the team’s starting Franchise QB. Unlike a couple of previous Philadelphia QBs such as Donovan McNabb, Sam Bradford, or Carson Wentz Quarterback Jalen Hurts will not hang his head, complain or demand to be traded if the Eagles draft a rookie QB relatively soon. He will report to camp, practice hard and work hard on improving every aspect of his game in order to do his absolute best to keep his starting gig under center for the birds. That is if he is not traded of course which
is unlikely but not impossible. The same goes if the Eagles were to make a play on draft day (again highly unlikely) for San Francisco QB Jimmy Grappolo or disgruntled Browns QB Baker Mayfield (unless Hurts is a part of a very unlikely trade package.)
The Eagles recently had dinner with projected first-round QB Kenny Pickett out of Pittsburgh and were in attendance for Liberty QB Malik Willi’s pro day. Both project to be mid-first-round picks.
The Philadelphia Eagles Front Office and Coaching staff have said repeatedly that they are all in on QB Jalen Hurts despite his poor showing in the Eagles playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs back in January. I believe that Hurt’s ceiling is much higher than others might. Even his toughest critics know one thing is for certain. He will continue to put in the hard work to improve. His impact as a leader has never been in question and I expect him to continue to grow and get better as an NFL QB.
That being said I also do think that if Willis or Pickett is available at pick 15 the Eagles will draft a rookie Qb to compete with Jalen Hurts with the hopes that said rookie beats Hurts out to be the team’s starting QB in time for week one of the NFL regular season. If I were the GM I would continue to build around Jalen Hurts on Offense and use the rest of my picks to sure up the defense. However, that responsibility falls to Eagles GM Howie Roseman alone.
Not Sportswriters, nor the fans. There is really only one scenario in which I don’t see the Eagles drafting a QB in the first round and that is if both Pickett and Willis are both gone by Pick 15 and one of them being drafted before the Eagles pick at 15 could certainly happen but I would be shocked if both were off the board when the Eagles are on the clock and the Eagles have shown a good amount of interest in both players.
My guess here is that Pickett who has a little bit more polish at the moment than Willis will be a top 10 pick and Malik Willis will be available at pick 15 and the Eagles will be happy to draft him. The Eagles could also foolishly trade down from 19 into the mid-20s for an extra draft pick and select QB Sam Howell out of North Carolina. I would not be a big fan of that scenario as Howell is most likely the worst projected first rd.
QB in my opinion in this year’s draft class as he is vastly overrated. That last scenario is the most unlikely but anything is possible. Let’s throw out one more scenario. Let’s say the Eagles use all three of their first rd. picks on more pressing areas of need such as CB, WR, and LB and then draft high upside QB prospect in rounds two or three such as QB Desmond Ridder out of Cincinnati. This is a scenario that literally has less than a zero-point ten percent chance of actually happening but hey now it’s out there for discussion. It doesn’t matter.
The Eagles will then simply find themselves in a scenario where Jalen Hurts is still the starting QB to open up the season and likely for the remainder of his rookie contract. The only QB that I could see actually see surpassing Hurts is the
aforementioned Malik Willis out of Liberty and regardless of how talented and athletic he is still a very raw prospect whom I believe would take two seasons to earn the starting spot away from QB Jalen Hurts if the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans are patient enough to wait that long to allow him to develop.
Eagles fans are not exactly known for their patience which puts pressure on the organization and team as a whole. Even then, Willis is only (potentially) an eventual slight upgrade over Jalen Hurts if Jalen does not improve which I believe he will make the selection an afterthought.
Contrary to popular belief around the NFL a QB can improve his accuracy, footwork, timing, instincts, and yes even arm strength. I’ll give you an example of each. 1) Chad Pennington improved his arm strength way back when with the New York Jets. Drew Brees improved his accuracy in his last three seasons with the New Orleans Saints.
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Ben Roethlisberger improved his timing in his second to last NFL season in Pittsburgh. Josh Allen’s footwork has improved greatly since his rookie season and his instincts as well. I expect QB Jalen Hurts to improve in every possible category there is for a starting NFL QB because that is simply the kind of person and athlete he is. He is a blue-collar QB who embodies Philadelphia. He is an exciting and talented NFL QB who led his team to a very unlikely playoff berth in what was essentially his rookie season.
People often forget about QB Jalen Hurts incredible early career accomplishments because of one bad playoff loss. That’s incredibly unfair to a player who is still just 23 (younger than quite a few of this year’s rookie QBs will be) and without a doubt in my mind is a player that will continue to improve as the Eagles Franchise QB every year.
To sum up this article: What the Eagles should do: Not use a premium draft pick on a QB and keep building around Hurts who will reward the team for doing so. What the Eagles will do: Draft a QB within the first two rounds likely in the first round wasting a premium pick on a player that at best will take years to develop on a team that can make a deep playoff run now.
Center Jason Kelce, DT Fletcher Cox, and DE Brandon Graham are all in the final years of their contracts. I hope that I’m wrong. That premium pick is certainly better used on a player who can make life easier on Jalen Hurts and the offense right away.
The only scenario in which I wouldn’t mind the Eagles drafting a QB is via a day 3 pick to be Jalen Hurt’s backup for when backup QB Garner Minshew is traded to another team. Here is my not so bold prediction: No matter what the Eagles do at the QB position via the draft (or less likely trade for a veteran during the draft) QB Jalen Hurts will only continue to get better and improve every aspect of his game in the offseason and will be the Eagles franchise QB1 for a decade, and he will lead the Eagles on a deep playoff run this season. The Eagles will win the NFC East Division Title this season with Jalen Hurts under center.
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