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Jalen Hurts' 'Natural Maturation' In Fifth Year As Eagles Full-Time Starting QB

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By Ed Kracz | Last updated Sep 1, 2025 9:37 AM ET

Jalen Hurts is on the verge of starting his fifth straight year as the Eagles quarterback. That’s how many Carson Wentz started from 2016 through 2020 until Hurts, as a rookie, took Wentz’s job with four games left in a miserable four-win season.

It’s one more than Michael Vick started from 2010-2013, two fewer than Norm Snead from 1964-1970, but only halfway to the 10 straight seasons started by Ron Jaworski from 1977-1986 and Donovan McNabb from 2000-2009. Randall Cunningham also started 10 straight seasons but played in six games as a rookie in 1985.

Hurts has the fourth most career wins in franchise history, entering the year with 46 behind McNabb’s 92. Jaworski’s 69, and Cunningham’s 63, but Hurts is the only one among those three to start in two Super Bowls and be named the game’s most valuable player.

Every year brings change to an NFL roster, and yet those four quarterbacks remain the constant as rosters change like summer to winter.

The One Constant In Half-A-Decade Has Been The QB

“It’s just being that (constant),” said Hurts on Sunday. “Just being present, and examining my game, and seeing how can I evolve, and how can I grow. Yet, No. 1, maintaining the main priority.

“That’s what the objective has always been. It’s always been that, and it’s going to continue to be there, regardless of how it looks as a team. We just want to go out there and play efficient football and find ways to score more points than the other side. It takes a collective effort.”

Indeed, there are 10 other players in addition to quarterback on offense and 11 on defense, plus another 31 players on the roster and 16 more on the practice squad. That is certainly a collective.

It’s the quarterback who gets the wins and losses put next to his name, and Hurts could very well finish with the most in franchise history and more Super Bowl wins than any who have come before. Good fortune and health have to be on his side, too, as well as a roster chock full of talent, but he has learned a lot about the game and himself as he prepares to start Year 5 as the Eagles’ full-time starting quarterback.

“You saturate, you learn, and you do grow and you evolve as a person,” he said. “So, I think that’s been a natural maturation for me. I’ve always spoken about how experience is the biggest teacher. I’ve said that since I was a rookie when I didn’t have the experience as a pro quarterback. And now the experience has definitely added up, and there’s still more out there to go, do, and accomplish, ultimately.”

“…It doesn’t matter how it looks to me. I just want to go out there and find ways to win, and play efficient football, and push the needle.”

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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