With the season right around the corner, there is one guy who has been waiting for it more than anyone. It is none other than Eagles star Quarterback, Jalen Hurts. Hurts is coming off of a season where he completed 66% of his passes on 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns through the air and 760 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. Hurts was an MVP finalist and led the Eagles to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2018. Hurts and the Eagles dominated the NFC year- long finishing the season with a 14-3 record and running through the Giants and the 49ers in the Playoffs. Ultimately the Eagles would lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in a valiant effort from Jalen Hurts who scored four touchdowns in the game but lost 38-35.
After the season the NFL released its annual Top 100 Players List voted on by the players. The players ultimately voted Hurts 3/100 with many voting him first. This is coming off of a season where Hurts was unranked. This rise of Hurts silences many doubters and proves Jalen Hurts is an elite Quarterback in this league. This ranking and some doubters aren’t enough for Jalen though. He wants more.
Recently in one of the Eagles facilities during the annual rookie talent show a video surfaced showing Jalen Hurts lock screen on his phone. His screen showed a photo of him leaving the field at State Farm Stadium after the end of Super Bowl LVII with the Chiefs colored confetti falling over him instead of the green and white. When asked about it at practice, Hurts said he would rather not talk about it. He made it clear he did not want it to be shown to the public. It was a very personal moment for Hurts as he uses this to feed his success and remind himself to keep striving for greatness day in and day out.
Jalen Hurts is still very young at the ripe age of 24 and is already considered to be one of the best in the NFL. Hurts has been proven to be very mature for his age by keeping his composure and not being very flashy off the field. His off the field presence has been a very under-appreciated aspect of his growth. Former Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb described him as a grown man due to the amount of struggle Hurts has faced in his college career after being benched during a National Championship game for Tua Tagovailoa. This caused Hurts to transfer to Oklahoma leading that school to the Playoffs. This has also led to the determination and grit Hurts has learned over his career. Hurts and the Eagles have found an identity through using Hurts in the run and the pass game throughout the season at an elite level with amazing offensive line play and star receiving talent like AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. They will look to keep this going into the 2023 season and Jalen will look to capitalize on the moment and hoist the Lombardi for Philadelphia.
