It Hurts, But It's Time Critics Admit They're Wrong About Eagles Quarterback

by Charles Bell Sr. 

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​I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since 1999. Growing up as a black kid in southwest Arkansas, I didn’t see many black quarterbacks when I watched football on TV. I remember the first time I saw Donovan McNabb play. I was amazed and I have been an Eagles fan ever since. I have gone back and looked at some of Randall Cunningham’s highlights, but I was too young to remember his run with the Eagles.

Any Eagles fan will tell you; we have had our share of ups, downs and shocks over the years. In my opinion, the biggest shock was the Eagles selecting Jalen Hurts out of the University of Alabama in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. This did not have as much to do with Hurts, but rather the needs of the team. At that time, Philadelphia had one of the worst secondaries in the league. Guys like Jeremy Chinn were on the board. The Eagles also suffered injuries on the offensive line and general manager Howie Roseman is notorious for beefing up both lines. Oh yeah, they also just signed their franchise quarterback Carson Wentz to a 4-year/$132 million contract. This pick sent shockwaves throughout the entire Eagles fanbase. Eagle fans were already pissed at the selection of receiver Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson in the first round. I remember tons of Eagle fans losing it. Twitter, which is now known as X(LOL), was a crazy place. It’s something I will never forget. Fans wanted Roseman fired on the spot. But then Wentz had a horrible 2020 season and was replaced by Hurts in a game against the Green Bay Packers. Wentz was traded the following offseason and Hurts was named starting QB.

Fast forward three years and Hurts is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. I have no problem admitting, I was dead wrong about him. I wish other people would admit that, but we will get to that later. As I mentioned previously, I had nothing against Hurts, but the Eagles had other needs. At the time I was a big Wentz fan. I thought his struggles were more about the banged-up offensive line and the mediocre receiving core than his abilities. The pick was just odd to me. We can now definitely say it was a great pick. Hurts is everything you want in a franchise quarterback.

Other people, however, do not view things that way. Even after the last season he had and the fact that he has improved every year, he has critics and skeptics. They say: it’s only been one year, the Eagles had an easy schedule, etc etc. But I have not heard these things when it comes to other quarterbacks in similar positions around the league. When Joe Burrow led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in his second year, no one said it was just one good year. The consensus was he built on his rookie year and was ascending into superstardom. Another thing I hear is he only had 22 touchdown passes. Let’s put that into perspective. I can think of four fourth quarters Hurts mostly sat on the bench or played conservatively because the Eagles were winning big. He also missed two games due to injury. I can easily make the case he could have thrown 30-plus TD passes if those things didn’t happen. Let’s compare this with another young Quarterback, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. Herbert played in all 17 games last year and “only” threw for 25 TD passes. Have you heard people calling him a running back or question his throwing? Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence only threw for 12 TD passes his rookie year and followed that up with 25 in his second. Fans and media seem to all say Lawrence is ascending (which I agree with) instead of saying only one good year.

We all know of the racial components when it comes to black quarterbacks. Hurts alluded to this recently in an interview. When it comes to the critics of Hurst, I think it’s more ego-driven. Scouts and executives can’t fathom they were so wrong about a player. I’ve personally never seen a player improve this quickly. Hurts went from being called a gadget player to signing a $250 million dollar deal within 18 months. I am not a scout or player developer. I am simply a fan of the Eagles who pays attention to every move. I gladly admit I was wrong about Hurts. It’s time others did it too. Trust me I know, it Hurts.