What should we make of Hurts after Giants nightmare?

[time2rock]

What should we make of Hurts after Giants nightmare?

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

Everything Jalen Hurts does - every pass, every run, every decision, every brilliant play, every terrible mistake – we see in the context of whether or not he’s The Guy. Whether or not he’s the Eagles’ long-term answer.

It’s impossible not to look at it that way.

Other than picking a head coach, picking a quarterback is just about the most important decision a franchise has to make. So it’s only natural that a performance like this has us thinking, "OK, he’s definitely NOT the guy.”

Maybe that's not entirely fair. This was one game out of a dozen, and he was far worse Sunday than he has been all year. Overall, he’s cut down on interceptions, been more accurate, shown better decision making and he’s definitely displayed a knack for making big plays late in games.

But I don’t know how you watch this game without finding yourself really wondering if this is going to work.

I’ve tried to keep an open mind throughout the season and not get too swayed by either the high points or the low points. Long season. Lots of football to go. No reason to draw any conclusions just yet.

But there actually isn’t a lot of football to go anymore, and I can’t get past how truly awful he was Sunday against the Giants and their 25th-ranked pass defense and how much of a setback that was in a really important game where a win would have put them in the No. 7 spot in the NFC playoff rankings.

And let’s face it. Even in the games Hurts has played well, he really hasn’t been asked to do a whole lot. He’s made a few throws, missed a few others and handed off 40 or 50 times.  

He’s thrown three touchdown passes in his last six starts. He’s passed for 200 yards once since Week 4. He hasn’t completed a pass of 40 yards since the Panthers game in Week 5.

His rushing numbers are incredible. Hurts is 9th in the NFL in rushing. 6th in yards per carry and tied for 5th with eight TDs. 

And he’s a dynamic enough runner and decent enough playmaker to win some games. We’ve seen it the last month. But it comes down to whether he can be a consistent enough passer week after week to lead the Eagles on a deep playoff run. 

And I haven’t seen evidence yet that he is.

Now, I’m the first to say it’s too early to make any final decisions on Hurts. This was a disaster, but there have been some exceptional moments, some big-time games. And maybe he’ll rebound with a few strong performances over the next few weeks and we’ll look back at this nightmarish performance against the Giants as an outlier.

But sitting here today, after that 14-for-31, 129-yard, 3-interception disaster, it’s really hard to feel encouraged.

I don't care how many rushing yards you pile up, if you can't fire the ball down the field to open receivers on a consistent basis, you can't win on a consistent basis.

Sunday at the Meadowlands?

Hurts’ 17.7 passer rating is lowest by an Eagles starting QB throwing at least 20 passes in a game since undrafted rookie Brad Goebel’s 12.9 in Tampa in his first career start 30 years ago.

He’s the first Eagles QB with no TDs and 3 INTs, below 50 percent completion percentage and fewer than 130 passing yards since Jaws against the Cowboys 44 years ago.

I mean, this was historically wretched stuff. We’re 12 weeks into this season, and he should be way beyond this.

Hurts is a tremendous leader, a high-character young man, accountable and humble. You can see why his coaches and teammates think so highly of him.

But none of that matters if he can’t spot open receivers or put the ball where it’s supposed to go or throw the ball away instead of trying to force it into traffic.

Hurts is talented enough that he'll be in this league for a long time in some role. 

But whether he can be a consistent winning starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s hard to answer yes to that question after watching him play Sunday afternoon.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/what-should-we-make-eagles-qb-jalen-hurts-after-giants-nightmare

[VaBeach_Eagle]

Quote

What should we make of Hurts after Giants nightmare?

The backup?

[time2rock]

I wouldn't make too much out of any single performance whether great or bad.  What matters is if he can show he can be good consistently.  He may get there with time ... or maybe he never will.  So far this season he has been trending upward - yesterday was a blip - but he also hasn't had a lot placed on his plate from a passing perspective.  He needs to develop into a legit passing threat to be considered "the guy" moving forward. 

But I also do not want the lack of development of his passing game (yet) to be motivation to use a high pick (or worse yet multiple high picks) to grab a QB unless that player is expected to be great.  Right now you can't say that about any of them in the upcoming draft class, so it may be better to give Hurts (and/or Minshew) another year and try to build the rest of the team with as much talent as possible and look to add a QB the following year.  

[PoconoDon]

He's an inaccurate running QB who overall, is still a QB2. 

[ManchesterEagle]

3 hours ago, time2rock said:

I wouldn't make too much out of any single performance whether great or bad.  What matters is if he can show he can be good consistently.  He may get there with time ... or maybe he never will.  So far this season he has been trending upward - yesterday was a blip - but he also hasn't had a lot placed on his plate from a passing perspective.  He needs to develop into a legit passing threat to be considered "the guy" moving forward.  But I also do not want to the lack of development of his passing game to be motivation to use a high pick (or worse yet multiple high picks) to grab a QB unless that player is expected to be great.  Right now you can't say that about any of them in the upcoming draft class, so it may be better to give Hurts (and/or Minshew) another year and try to build the rest of the team with as much talent as possible and look to add a QB the following year.  

Exactly how I feel. I’m not convinced but there is potential for sure and it’s funny how everyone is jumping off the bandwagon after he has been trending upwards.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I just don't think it can work because I'm just not sure he's going to be able to do the things he needs to do to win regularly in the NFL. I'd love to be wrong because I really want this kid to be the answer but I just don't think he's going to be. 

[jsdarkstar]

What should we take? That team defenses are going to play the run and make hurts beat them with his arm. 

[birdman#12]

Just as I said previously, he was a raw product coming out of college and NEVER should have started this year.  He needed to sit and learn.  

Instead, he started on a team with a rookie head coach, with a different system, and expected to lead a team with numerous question marks on both sides of the ball.  What we're seeing is a young QB who runs waaaay too much, locks on to receivers, can't anticipate a receiver getting open, can't judge a deep throw, is not going thru progressions fast enough....among other things.

The clusterf---- that is the eagles brain trust, will not give this kid enough time to develop.....benching him will ruin him, and they won't be patient enough for him to learn on the field.  

They f----- up when they drafted him, they f------- up when they started him and they will f---- up his development.  And Howie's spendthrift attitude will lead him to piss away draft picks and/or a lot of the cap space finding the next product of the "quarterback factory".  They'll either draft another project QB too high and f--- up his development or they will throw those high draft picks away trying to find "the guy".

The eagles are the "new" old cleveland browns.......a QB turnstile that could go on for years......they will throw away a ton of draft capital doing it while the rest of the team's needs are pushed to the back of the draft and UDFAs.  Not to mention that Sirianni won't last more than 2 years here.....he has to make enormous strides to convince Lurie that the eagles didn't make a mistake.

So we're going to see a churn of QBs and HCs for years or until Lurie fires Roseman.  

[EaglesAddict]

The Hurts question is definitely gonna be a hot topic in the offseason.  What we've seen, so far, is that he can play well enough when he's not asked to do too much besides run.  When asked to pass more than run, he struggles.  He has dropped some dimes this year, but has mainly struggled with consistent accuracy.  The bigger questions are ones we can't answer...I would love to know what Siri and the offensive coaches are asking of Hurts on any given play and/or game plan.  As in, what is he supposed to be doing vs. what he actually is doing.  I'd also love to know if Siri thinks he has to neuter his game plan because he feels he can't do certain things due to Hurts' inability to do them.

All that said, the only thing that will matter is what Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman think.  My guess is they will want to upgrade the QB position so get ready for a crazy offseason of rumors galore about who we are trading for (Wilson, Rodgers, Watson) and if none of them...it will be followed by "what QB they covet" in the draft and how they will maneuver their way up to land him.

[time2rock]

29 minutes ago, EaglesAddict said:

The Hurts question is definitely gonna be a hot topic in the offseason.  What we've seen, so far, is that he can play well enough when he's not asked to do too much besides run.  When asked to pass more than run, he struggles.  He has dropped some dimes this year, but has mainly struggled with consistent accuracy.  The bigger questions are ones we can't answer...I would love to know what Siri and the offensive coaches are asking of Hurts on any given play and/or game plan.  As in, what is he supposed to be doing vs. what he actually is doing.  I'd also love to know if Siri thinks he has to neuter his game plan because he feels he can't do certain things due to Hurts' inability to do them.

All that said, the only thing that will matter is what Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman think.  My guess is they will want to upgrade the QB position so get ready for a crazy offseason of rumors galore about who we are trading for (Wilson, Rodgers, Watson) and if none of them...it will be followed by "what QB they covet" in the draft and how they will maneuver their way up to land him.

Those are the 2 questions that continually come to mind for me as well.  I sure hope they don't follow either path outlined in that last sentence.  I don't want to add an aging vet, coughing up a lot of draft capital that could be used to add elite young talent that could potentially be here for numerous years (and for the first 4-5 on cheap rookie contracts which is extremely important from a cap perspective) in order to acquire one (and obviously the ramifications it would have on the cap to add that vet).  I also don't want to use one or more high picks on QB in a draft in which the class is labeled as weak - not getting the right guy just to satisfy the need for getting A guy would set us back much further than rolling another year with Hurts and Minshew.  They need to be patient and really play their cards right here ... even if they know Hurts likely isn't the long term answer, they need to feel OK with that and be willing to wait until the right prospect is there for the taking and build the rest of the team around the QB in the time being because the talent level on the team as a whole needs upgraded at many positions.  Even if we added an elite QB now we still aren't ready to compete.  

[EaglesAddict]

3 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Those are the 2 questions that continually come to mind for me as well.  I sure hope they don't follow either path outlined in that last sentence.  I don't want to add an aging vet, coughing up a lot of draft capital that could be used to add elite young talent that could potentially be here for numerous years (and for the first 4-5 on cheap rookie contracts which is extremely important from a cap perspective) in order to acquire him (and obviously the ramifications it would have on the cap to add that vet).  I also don't want to use one or more high picks on QB in a draft in which the class is labeled as weak - not getting the right guy just to satisfy the need for getting A guy would set us back much further than rolling another year with Hurts and Minshew.  They need to be patient and really play their cards right here ... even if they know Hurts likely isn't the long term answer, they need to feel OK with that and be willing to wait until the right prospect is there for the taking and build the rest of the team around the QB in the time being because the talent level on the team as a whole needs upgraded at many positions.  Even if we added an elite QB now we still aren't ready to compete.  

I 100% agree with that, and it's exactly how I'd approach things this offseason.  Plus, we will have some money to spend in FA and if we were able to land a good WR like Allen Robinson, Chris Godwin, Mike Williams or even Davante Adams (if any of them actually make it to FA), it would have a tremendous impact on our offense and Hurts.  

Invest the 3 first round picks on the D.

But as we know, the real issue is what Howie and Jeff will do 

[time2rock]

1 minute ago, EaglesAddict said:

I 100% agree with that, and it's exactly how I'd approach things this offseason.  Plus, we will have some money to spend in FA and if we were able to land a good WR like Allen Robinson, Chris Godwin, Mike Williams or even Davante Adams (if any of them actually make it to FA), it would have a tremendous impact on our offense and Hurts.  

Invest the 3 first round picks on the D.

But as we know, the real issue is what Howie and Jeff will do 

IF Hurts was indeed a Lurie pick, then perhaps that will buy him more time (I mean if JJAW ... another rumored Lurie pick) is still on the team ... 

[EaglesAddict]

8 minutes ago, time2rock said:

IF Hurts was indeed a Lurie pick, then perhaps that will buy him more time (I mean if JJAW ... another rumored Lurie pick) is still on the team ... 

Maybe, but all that smoke about being interested in Watson seems to have been true...which says they wanted an upgrade even before this season started.  So....????

[weko]

He's a back up NFL QB.

[eggs]

On 11/29/2021 at 12:52 PM, time2rock said:

I wouldn't make too much out of any single performance whether great or bad.  What matters is if he can show he can be good consistently.  He may get there with time ... or maybe he never will.  So far this season he has been trending upward - yesterday was a blip - but he also hasn't had a lot placed on his plate from a passing perspective.  He needs to develop into a legit passing threat to be considered "the guy" moving forward. 

But I also do not want the lack of development of his passing game (yet) to be motivation to use a high pick (or worse yet multiple high picks) to grab a QB unless that player is expected to be great.  Right now you can't say that about any of them in the upcoming draft class, so it may be better to give Hurts (and/or Minshew) another year and try to build the rest of the team with as much talent as possible and look to add a QB the following year.  

That’s my view, unless Watson clears up his legal problems (unlikely) and can be had for two 1sts. 

[eglz1]

On 11/29/2021 at 1:21 PM, PoconoDon said:

He's an inaccurate running QB who overall, is still a QB2. 

It was said when Hurts was drafted that the Eagles were looking for a Taysom Hill (gadgety dual threat). It looks like they got ...... Taysom Hill.

[time2rock]

11 minutes ago, eglz1 said:

It was said when Hurts was drafted that the Eagles were looking for a Taysom Hill (gadgety dual threat). It looks like they got ...... Taysom Hill.

And funny enough, when the guy he sat behind finally retired, he still didn't get the opportunity to start ... they rolled with Winston.  And when he got hurt, they went with Siemian.  

Hill continues to play the role of gadget player (not starting QB).  Therein lies the difference.  

[Procus]

Good backup - but not the answer long term as a starter.

[Guest]

On 11/29/2021 at 3:32 PM, jsdarkstar said:

What should we take? That team defenses are going to play the run and make hurts beat them with his arm. 

 Nobody, not his will, his coaches, or the other team will EVER make him beat anyone with his arm.