In his end-of-season press conference, Eagles GM Howie Roseman made some comments that are certainly noteworthy, but also not surprising. As Around the NFL’s Kevin Patra writes, Roseman has confirmed Jalen Hurts‘ status as the team’s starting quarterback entering the offseason.
When speaking about the 23-year-old signal caller, Roseman said, “We talk about Jalen and the growth he had, really, a first-year starter, second-year player, leading this team to the playoffs, [we were] tremendously impressed by his work ethic, his leadership” adding “we said we wanted to see him take the bull by the horn, and he certainly did that.“
After struggling early in the year, Hurts helped lead the team turn a 2-5 record into 9-8 and a playoff appearance. In 14 regular-season games, he completed 61.3% of his passes for 3,144 yards and 16 touchdowns to go along with nine interceptions. The more notable aspect of his game, of course, is his rushing ability though – something that led to a great deal of production on the ground. He finished the season with a team-leading 784 rushing yards on 139 carries (good for an average of 5.6 per attempt) and an additional 10 scores. As his performance in his playoff debut showed, however, there is certainly plenty of room for improvement in the passing game.
Head coach Nick Sirianni doubled down on the support for Hurts, stating, “Jalen knows where he stands with us. I thought he did a great job of getting better throughout the year… He knows he’s our guy.” The vote of confidence doesn’t come as a surprise to many around the league, although others have remained skeptical Hurts can be a consistent enough passer to be the starter on a contending team.
It is important to keep in mind that the QB market has yet to fully take shape for this offseason. The fact that some, or all, of Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson, among many others, may be available via free agency or trade – coupled with the fact that Philadelphia owns three first-round picks – could change the Eagles’ plans. As Patra notes, Roseman publicly supported Carson Wentz this time last year before trading him, and that “Roseman could shift gears if a potential upgrade materialized.” For now, at least, the Eagles are proceeding with confidence in the status quo at the quarterback position.
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