PFF delivers cold-hard truths about first two Eagles on top 50 players list

Every company and website is releasing its top players in the NFL lists before the season begins, which is making Philadelphia Eagles fans wonder where their players are going to land.

Pro Football Focus's Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema combined to create the website's top 50 NFL players ahead of the 2025 season. The ranking started at 50 with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. While they say he had some inconsistencies, he came up big in the playoffs.

"Hurts was inconsistent at times during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, finishing with 22 big-time throws and 19 turnover-worthy plays across the regular season and playoffs. But when it mattered most, he delivered. He posted a 91.5 passing grade in the NFC Championship Game and followed it up with a 78.7 grade in the Super Bowl, recording four big-time throws. Over those final two games, Hurts totaled seven big-time throws against just one turnover-worthy play."

The other Eagle on the list was defensive lineman Jalen Carter, who was ranked 45th. Another player that Wasserman and Sikkema say needs to be more consistent.

"As a pure pass rusher, Carter could easily rank higher on this list. He’s coming off his second consecutive season with a pass-rush grade above 84.0, and his cumulative 89.3 mark over the past two years ranks third among defensive tackles, trailing only Chris Jones and Dexter Lawrence.

However, his 14.2% pass-rush win rate sits outside the top 10 at the position, and his run-defense grade is just 61.0 over that span. If he can add more consistency against the run, Carter has the tools to climb these rankings and cement himself as one of the league’s premier interior defenders."

Are those worthy commentaries and rankings for Hurts and Carter?

When a quarterback completes over 68% of his passes and has a passer rating of over 103, there will be some inconsistencies, but those are not reflective of the overall performance. Hurts only threw five interceptions and proved to be smart with protecting the football while on the field.

Of course, passing the football is essential to the quarterback position, but Hurts also has the dangerous ability to break out on scrambles. Everyone talks about the Tush Push, which is a significant factor that allows Hurts to show off his lower body strength. There is more to his rushing abilities than gaining a yard as he is deceptively fast with his feet and can make quick decisions in the pocket.

The inconsistencies with Carter is not entirely off the mark, but one topic of discussion this offseason is that he is still learning the position. He has still been able to get to the quarterback better than most interior defensive linemen with 25 quarterback hits and 10.5 sacks in his career, but even he will acknowledge he can get better.

Carter is only 24 and has been in the NFL for two years so there is growth to be had there. He has accomplished so much in his young career with a Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection.

Hurts and Carter are only going to get better at their positions, as they are two of the best young players at their positions. The scary part for the league is that they will both be in Philly for a long time, so they can't escape them.