Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

NFL analyst sees big things for Eagles' Jalen Hurts this year

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 9/1/23

NFL analyst Kay Adams thinks Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is about to do something no NFL quarterback has ever done: throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.

Hey, Kay Adams, slow down. Adams' projection came as part of an eight-day “Predict-A-Thon" segment on her daily “Up and Adams” show. She also predicted the Chicago Bears would make the playoffs in 2023 and Chargers QB Justin Herbert would win the MVP.

Those last two seem perfectly reasonable, but a 4,000/1,000-yard split for Hurts may be asking a bit much of the young star. Separately, both numbers are reasonable, but together? That’s another story.

Predict-A-Thon Day 3:

Jalen Hurts is going to make HISTORY!@UpAndAdamsShow pic.twitter.com/dyhBLmPir7
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) August 31, 2023

Hurts threw for a career-high 3,701 yards last season despite missing two games with a shoulder injury. Had Hurts played in those games, he most likely would have gotten the yards needed to reach the 4,000-yard milestone.

Of the top-ten passers in the NFL last year, nine passed for over 4,000 yards. Hurts was the only one that didn’t. The last Eagles quarterback with that many yards in one season was also the first: Carson Wentz in 2019.

When it comes to rushing yards and quarterbacks, Adams may be suffering from recency bias. Chicago’s Justin Fields ran for 1,143 yards in 2022, joining Lamar Jackson (who did it twice) and Michael Vick as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.

To put that in perspective, only 16 of the league’s 32 teams had a 1,000-yard running back last year, up from seven teams the year before and nine in 2020.

Hurts rushing numbers went down from 784 yards in 2021 to 760 yards in 2022 and with a five-year, $255M contract now on his head, you can bet Philadelphia would like to see him run even less in 2023.

It’s a fun idea though. Who wouldn’t like to see a quarterback hit those marks in a single season? But unless a team like the Jaguars finds a way to morph quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne together, it’s never going to happen-especially in Philadelphia.

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