Jalen Reagor on Jalen Hurts: 'He's a natural born leader'

[time2rock]

Jalen Reagor on Jalen Hurts: 'He's a natural born leader'

By NICK KOSKO

If Jalen Hurts is going to stand out as the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback, he’s already making an impression. In four starts last year, despite up and down stats, Hurts provided a spark to the Eagles offense.

Second year wide receiver Jalen Reagor took notice of the leadership from Hurts in the early goings of practice this offseason. Reagor himself said he gravitates towards Hurts, which is important considering the lack of production from the Eagles wide receiver group in 2020.

Speaking after practice on Tuesday, Reagor called Hurts a "natural born leader.”

"Jalen Reagor on Jalen Hurts: ‘The one thing I see with him ... he does a lot of stuff with intent and then he has fun with it. Having that morale and having his (personality), I feel like everybody is going to gravitate to him. He's a natural born leader,’” Inside the Birds’ Geoff Mosher tweeted.

Speaking on Thursday’s edition of Get Up on ESPN, NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. said the Eagles passing on an opportunity for players such as Justin Fields and Mac Jones made Hurts the man.

"Well, they could have gone out and gone from 12 to 10 and drafted Justin Fields or Mac Jones — they didn't,” Kiper said. "That shows the commitment they have to Jalen Hurts. Draft day rolls around, six down to 12 and then back up to 10, they said okay we’re going to take DeVonta Smith and reunite him with Jalen Hurts. Move forward there. Give him a big time weapon to help him in the passing game rather than taking a quarterback that could be a little better or challenge him.

"I think that told you a lot. Then you add Joe Flacco and I like Jamie Newman. I think he could be developed down the road, but for now, it’s Jalen Hurts. He’s a classy kid, great character, he's a winner, his accuracy improved. He can be a really good, really successful dual threat quarterback. He was viewed as an accent piece … he's much more than an accent piece. Jalen Hurts is the man in Philadelphia right now.”

Hurts’ development will go a long way for the Eagles offense, which needs production from the position after a poor season in 2020. They also addressed the wide receiver position with the selection of Heisman trophy winner DeVonta Smith in April.

To help out Hurts, Smith even said he wants to complete Reagor, who struggled as a rookie in 2020.

"He’s very explosive,” Smith said. "He’s very fast. I mean, overall he’s a great receiver. I mean, we can complement each other and just help each other out with things in our game. It may be something that I’m not doing that he’s doing or something that I’m not doing that he is doing. We can just help each other out every way.”

As a rookie, Hurts finished 77 of 148 passing (52% completion percentage) for 1,061 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions, 354 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in four starts and 15 total games.

https://247sports.com/Article/Jalen-Hurts-natural-born-leader-Philadelphia-Eagles-Jalen-Reagor-NFL-OTA-training-camp-practice-165757158/

[PoconoDon]

TBF, Hurts is his QB. What else could he possibly say? (rhetorical question)