Jalen Hurts' biggest flaw is a big problem despite win

[time2rock]

Jalen Hurts' biggest flaw is a big problem despite win

 

The Eagles' win Sunday vs. the Giants was a classic tale of two halves, where the first half was an absolute mess and the second half was a raucous party. It was truly bizarre.

But the Birds emerging with the gigantic win doesn't mean we can ignore how putrid the first 30 minutes of football was from the Eagles' offense.

The hot takes were flying early on Sunday afternoon before things got fun and we've got a lot to unpack, so let's overreact to the win after the Eagles advanced to 8-7 on the season:

1. Jalen Hurts' inability to read the field is a big problem

It seemed pretty clear Sunday that Jalen Hurts wasn't fully healthy. He had little to no explosion during his rush attempts, he was moving gingerly even in the pocket, and he finished with a season-low seven rush yards.

So you're likely to see plenty of Hurts defenders in the wake of the quarterback uninspiring performance.

But I'd like to highlight something that has nothing to do with Hurts' limited mobility, and more with a concerning lack of improvement in a key area: seeing the entire field and making smart decisions with the ball.

The most glaring example of Hurts' tunnel vision - something that Carson Wentz suffered with before him - was him missing an obviously wide-open Dallas Goedert in the end zone at the end of the first half:  (CLICK ON LINK TO ARTICLE BELOW TO VIEW VIDEO)

There were no defenders within seven or eight yards of Goedert. That's a miss that simply can't happen as a starting QB in the NFL.

 

And missing obvious, open targets has been a repeated problem for Hurts this season; outside of the arm strength and some questionable decision-making, it's probably been his biggest flaw.

If Hurts were some unreal athletic talent - Lamar Jackson's open-field weaponry, or Justin Herbert's cannon arm, or some Drew Brees-like deathly accuracy - then the way he doesn't see very well past his first read wouldn't be as concerning. It would still be a problem! But he'd probably be able to learn that while he uses the rest of his skills and gifts.

But Hurts is not that kind of transcendent athletic player, so he needs to get the little things right.

And whether that's not throwing the awful near-interception that he attempted on the Eagles' first drive, or just hitting a wide-open tight end in the end zone, Hurts has failed to do the easy stuff that's right in front of him all year long.

It's great that he figured things out against the Giants, who are awful and clearly checked out, but the Eagles weren't asking very much of Hurts on Sunday and he still turned in a bit of a worrisome performance.

2. DeVonta Smith will be a Pro Bowler next year

DeVonta Smith isn't getting the national hype and adulation that Ja'Marr Chase is getting (which is fair) but he should be right there with the Bengals' young stud because the Eagles' first-round pick is having an incredible first year in the NFL.

Through 16 games Smith has 58 catches for 821 yards and five touchdowns, a tremendous start to his career filled with highlight reel catches - and that's despite not receiving nearly enough targets considering he's far and away the Eagles' best pass-catcher.

If the Eagles get more consistent quarterback play next season, either from Jalen Hurts or someone else, Smith could legitimately be a Pro Bowl wide receiver in his second year in the league.

Coming out of college, the big selling points on Smith was that he ran picture-perfect routes and always found a way to get open. He was gonna be the guy who did all the little things right, and his floor as a wide receiver seemed very high. 

But how high was his ceiling? That relied more on Smith's ability to make the "Wow!" plays.

And on Sunday, Smith had two "Wow!" plays that highlighted two skills the rook clearly possesses.

First, he made a catch down the field where he went up and simply plucked the ball out of the air over a defender in tight coverage: (CLICK ON LINK TO ARTICLE BELOW TO VIEW VIDEO)

 

Part of the fretting over Smith's size in the draft process was the concern that he might not be able to go up and get contested balls, a huge part of star receivers' big-play ability. That's clearly not the case.

And Smith also possesses freakish talent on the sidelines, as evidenced by his absolutely filthy touchdown catch in the second half: (CLICK ON LINK TO ARTICLE BELOW TO VIEW VIDEO)

That's the kind of toe-tap talent that not many wide receivers in the league possess. Completely insane.

Get Smith more reliable targets, both in volume and quality, and he will be a Pro Bowl wideout in short order.

3. This defense's future is actually... kind of exciting?

The Eagles' defense was a complete sieve early this season, allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete passes with basically no resistance.

And no, this take isn't coming now just because the Eagles were able to torch a Giants offense starting Jake Fromm and eventually switching to Mike Glennon. Sunday's domination was the only acceptable result.

But the Eagles' defense has shown over the past handful of weeks some real solid performances from young guys, from Josh Sweat to Milton Williams to Marcus Epps, and on Sunday even Alex Singleton, that should have Birds fans feelings good about the next few years of this unit.

And that's before you remember that they were shorthanded all season without a starting edge rusher in Brandon Graham, and they've been making do without linebacker Davion Taylor for weeks now.

Oh, and Javon Hargrave is only 28 years old.

Feel how you want to feel about Jonathan Gannon - I'm not sure he deserves another year in charge of the defense, but that's not my choice! - but if the Eagles are able to add some top-tier talent in April's draft (in a draft class that seems to have a ton of talented defenders along the defensive line, at cornerback, and even at linebacker) they could be set up for a stretch of continued success, a blessing after multiple years of disappointing play.

The defense kept the Eagles in the game Sunday through 30 minutes of embarrassingly bad offense, and if they run things back with Jalen Hurts next year they'll likely need to do that again, at least once or twice.

Thankfully, it's become clear this is the kind of defensive unit that can be a strength.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-overreactions-jalen-hurts-biggest-flaw-still-problem

[nipples]

Smith is insane. If he had more consistent QB play he’d easily be around 1000 yards right now. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

The reading of the field is such a concern with Hurts. It happens every game where he misses wide open guys. Sometimes it is masked by him making a play with his feet or a receiver making a tough catch but it happens too often. 

[nipples]

Just now, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

The reading of the field is such a concern with Hurts. It happens every game where he misses wide open guys. Sometimes it is masked by him making a play with his feet or a receiver making a tough catch but it happens too often. 

That and the underthrows are a concern. That one deep ball to Smith yesterday resulted in a great catch, but was severely underthrown. Smith had a couple steps on his man, easy TD if the ball is thrown out in front of him. 

[jsb235]

Both the qb and the coach said that missing Goedert was not on the qb, but rather a function of him playing within the structure of the offense. So Hurts made the right read for the coverage.

And criticizing the deep ball to Smith without knowing what the route was supposed to be is peak Dunning-Kruger effect.

Hurts' adjusted completion percentage according to PFF was 81 percent yesterday. So he's doing exactly what his critics say he can't do, which is finding open receivers and delivering the ball to them accurately.  

[nipples]

9 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

Both the qb and the coach said that missing Goedert was not on the qb, but rather a function of him playing within the structure of the offense. So Hurts made the right read for the coverage.

And criticizing the deep ball to Smith without knowing what the route was supposed to be is peak Dunning-Kruger effect.

Hurts' adjusted completion percentage according to PFF was 81 percent yesterday. So he's doing exactly what his critics say he can't do, which is finding open receivers and delivering the ball to them accurately.  

We do know the route smith was running, he was heading down the field and didn’t stop and come back until he saw the ball wasn’t going to be out in front. Now you’re just reaching to defend Hurts. 

[jsb235]

29 minutes ago, nipples said:

We do know the route smith was running, he was heading down the field and didn’t stop and come back until he saw the ball wasn’t going to be out in front. Now you’re just reaching to defend Hurts. 

Not reaching, just pointing out that you don't know what you don't know. "Heading down the field" is not a route. To me it looked like Smith knew exactly where that ball was supposed to be. 

Here's the ball in the air.

If the idea is to just throw it as deep as possible, the  window for a completion is extremely tight. More importantly, look at where Smith is. He is literally a yard from the sideline. There is no way you leave yourself that little room if the ball is meant to be thrown to the deep corner. To me it looks like he is expecting the ball to be thrown to the inside, so he is giving himself room to move that way.

Here is the catch.

The corner has caught up to Smith, but can't make the play. Under your theory, both players looked back for the ball and Smith just did a better job finding it and determining where it would land than the corner. Which is quite a leap of faith. To me, it looked like the ball was exactly where Smith thought it would be, which is why he was able to make the play the corner couldn't. Smith being able to time his jump to high point the ball and move the corner to the outside, giving him inside leverage, seems like something they have practiced, not Smith simply adjusting to a poorly thrown ball.

 

[nipples]

7 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

Not reaching, just pointing out that you don't know what you don't know. "Heading down the field" is not a route. To me it looked like Smith knew exactly where that ball was supposed to be. 

Here's the ball in the air.

If the idea is to just throw it as deep as possible, the  window for a completion is extremely tight. More importantly, look at where Smith is. He is literally a yard from the sideline. There is no way you leave yourself that little room if the ball is meant to be thrown to the deep corner. To me it looks like he is expecting the ball to be thrown to the inside, so he is giving himself room to move that way.

Here is the catch.

The corner has caught up to Smith, but can't make the play. Under your theory, both players looked back for the ball and Smith just did a better job finding it and determining where it would land than the corner. Which is quite a leap of faith. To me, it looked like the ball was exactly where Smith thought it would be, which is why he was able to make the play the corner couldn't. Smith being able to time his jump to high point the ball and move the corner to the outside, giving him inside leverage, seems like something they have practiced, not Smith simply adjusting to a poorly thrown ball.

 

Dude… no. That ball 100% should have been thrown out in front of the receiver. He has separation, and it’s clear the route is not intended to stop. You don’t run routes like that this far down the field. No. 

[PoconoDon]

Smith adjusted to a bad throw, and did a great job of it too. 

[jsb235]

1 minute ago, nipples said:

Dude… no. That ball 100% should have been thrown out in front of the receiver. He has separation, and it’s clear the route is not intended to stop. You don’t run routes like that this far down the field. No. 

You don't run routes like this down the field.

Like this one? Wentz to Jeffery in 2017?

This route gets thrown all the time. They practice doing this. The problem is that you don't know what you don't know.

 

[nipples]

3 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

You don't run routes like this down the field.

Like this one? Wentz to Jeffery in 2017?

This route gets thrown all the time. They practice doing this. The problem is that you don't know what you don't know.

 

You seriously don’t see the difference between that play and the one to Smith yesterday? Look at the positioning of the safety. The back shoulder throw is used when the coverage over the top prevents leading the receiver down the field. In Smith’s case, he was behind the CB and the safety was never going to have time to close on a throw over the top. 

[jsb235]

3 minutes ago, PoconoDon said:

Smith adjusted to a bad throw, and did a great job of it too. 

Then he ran a bad route. He was way to close to the boundary, and if the ball was thrown where you think it should have been thrown, he put himself in a terrible position to be forced out of bounds, like he was previously in the season.

And, I posted evidence of Wentz and Jeffery running the exact same route in 2017. Was that a bad ball? Should I post 100 more examples of qbs throwing this exact same ball before you admit that you may not know what you are talking about?

[time2rock]

6 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

Then he ran a bad route. He was way to close to the boundary, and if the ball was thrown where you think it should have been thrown, he put himself in a terrible position to be forced out of bounds, like he was previously in the season.

And, I posted evidence of Wentz and Jeffery running the exact same route in 2017. Was that a bad ball? Should I post 100 more examples of qbs throwing this exact same ball before you admit that you may not know what you are talking about?

That applies to everyone though.  Only the coaches and players really know.  

[PoconoDon]

Just now, jsb235 said:

Then he ran a bad route. He was way to close to the boundary, and if the ball was thrown where you think it should have been thrown, he put himself in a terrible position to be forced out of bounds, like he was previously in the season.

And, I posted evidence of Wentz and Jeffery running the exact same route in 2017. Was that a bad ball? Should I post 100 more examples of qbs throwing this exact same ball before you admit that you may not know what you are talking about?

Hurts is generally a moderately accurate passer and his accuracy usually gets worse the farther down the field he throws. We've seen hundreds of examples of that too since he started last year. Part of a WR's job is to go get a poorly thrown ball and good ones make those exact same adjustments. We're not talking about a deep dig, comeback, or hitch route. Should we post 100  more examples of the same exact adjustments before you admit you may not know what you're talking about? 

[jsb235]

Just now, time2rock said:

That applies to everyone though.  Only the coaches and players really know.  

I agree. But I can post 100 examples of qbs throwing this exact same route, and my position is that we don't know, whereas others are sure that they do know.

[PoconoDon]

The play with Smith is at 4:26. You'll see him as an outside receiver with an outside stem on the route,  which typically indicates a post or go route. His vertical separation, outside position, and route he was visibly running, all strongly indicates a go route and no other. There is a Safety in the middle of the field so the throw should not be inside at all, but dropped in over the top of the running receiver so he can catch it in stride down the sideline without slowing down or having to come inside towards the Safety.

Well, that's not what happened. He did have to slow down and did have to go hard inside at the very last second to create jump ball separation. He did a wonderful job of it too.

That's what I saw.

[Southparkeagles]

Hurts has many flaws. His inability to see the field, read defenses well, his mid to long ball arm strength and accuracy. Additionally, his RPO decisions are questionable - sometimes he appears to just wing it.
All that being said, he’s been more good than bad. He has got us to where we are today which is an improved and developing football team. He’s earned my vote for another season and he should benefit with offensive acquisitions in the off-season. A veteran WR and/or a decent WR in the draft should help him, but I don’t think it’ll correct the issues he can’t control. He can improve his QB IQ, but his arm strength and accuracy are probably not going to improve. In the end he’s a serviceable QB with legs and he has his occasional flashes of brilliance. He’s a team guy and is well-liked in the locker room.
I like him, but I don’t believe he’s the Birds answer at QB past next season. 
 

[nipples]

2 hours ago, jsb235 said:

Then he ran a bad route. He was way to close to the boundary, and if the ball was thrown where you think it should have been thrown, he put himself in a terrible position to be forced out of bounds, like he was previously in the season.

And, I posted evidence of Wentz and Jeffery running the exact same route in 2017. Was that a bad ball? Should I post 100 more examples of qbs throwing this exact same ball before you admit that you may not know what you are talking about?

Dude what are you talking about? There’s a good 2-3 yards between smith and the sideline and he’s running parallel to the boundary. All Hurts had to do is lead Smith where he’s already going and it’s a TD. 

[jsb235]

 

1 hour ago, PoconoDon said:

There is a Safety in the middle of the field so the throw should not be inside at all, but dropped in over the top of the running receiver so he can catch it in stride down the sideline without slowing down or having to come inside towards the Safety.

 The safety never comes close to impacting the play, so that's jibberish. And if the throw is supposed to be a corner route, why isn't he doing anything to create outside leverage? Bradberry can easily make up that ground. It's why he is a top corner. Do you think receivers just run by him on routes like that? There's a whole explanatory video dedicated to him being able to make up ground and break up passes when a receiver has separation like Smith had.

James Bradberry PBU - Out Of Phase Technique - YouTube

Criticizing Hurts for this throw is peak TATE ignorance. Take a play you know nothing about and just jump to the conclusion that Hurts did something wrong. Like, it never occurs to anyone that he might have actually done something good, and that the team might have had a specific play in mind to beat one of the best corners in the league other than "throw it as far as you can and hope." 

[PoconoDon]

40 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

 

 The safety never comes close to impacting the play, so that's jibberish. And if the throw is supposed to be a corner route, why isn't he doing anything to create outside leverage? Bradberry can easily make up that ground. It's why he is a top corner. Do you think receivers just run by him on routes like that? There's a whole explanatory video dedicated to him being able to make up ground and break up passes when a receiver has separation like Smith had.

James Bradberry PBU - Out Of Phase Technique - YouTube

Criticizing Hurts for this throw is peak TATE ignorance. Take a play you know nothing about and just jump to the conclusion that Hurts did something wrong. Like, it never occurs to anyone that he might have actually done something good, and that the team might have had a specific play in mind to beat one of the best corners in the league other than "throw it as far as you can and hope." 

Address the entire post, like the part where I wrote Smith 100% created outside leverage when he stemmed it to the outside, or just keep ignoring what you don't like to continue making up nonsensical counterpoints to imaginary arguments. I do however understand your argument. You seem to think think it's wise to place the ball towards defenders rather than away from them and at a spot that prevents a TD rather than facilitating one. That's as counter intuitive as it gets, but you do you.

[jsb235]

1 minute ago, PoconoDon said:

Address the entire post, like the part where I wrote Smith 100% created outside leverage when he stemmed it to the outside, or just keep ignoring what you don't like to continue making up nonsensical counterpoints to imaginary arguments. I do however understand your argument. You seem to think think it's wise to place the ball towards defenders rather than away from them and at a spot that prevents a TD rather than facilitating one. That's as counter intuitive as it gets, but you do you.

I don't think you understand leverage or how to create it. So how do I address a point that you don't understand?

[PoconoDon]

7 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

I don't think you understand leverage or how to create it. So how do I address a point that you don't understand?

Watch the play. Does Smith stem to the outside (outside release if that helps)? Yes. Does he therefore create and maintain outside position as he pulls away, that forces the CB into maintaining inside leverage in a lengthening trail position? Yes. Regardless of distance, was there a Safety directly over the top? No. Regardless of distance, was there a Safety to the inside? Yes. Is throwing the ball short and inside against that wise? No. Doing that helps the CB catch up and shortens the distance the Safety has to travel to make a play on the ball or a tackle (which is what happened when Love got there). It was a bad throw, accept it. To place the ball there on purpose would be unintelligent, especially when a ball out in front of the WR almost surely means 6 points. 

It's clear we disagree, and that's fine. You think the ball was placed where it was on purpose, and I think it was a poorly thrown ball. I'm moving on.

[Swimm]

I would say this team is a Super bowl contender if we had a better QB who could see the field and make more accurate  throws.

[time2rock]

I knew when posting this article that it was going to generate quite a bit of discussion.   

[proveagle]

1 hour ago, Swimm said:

I would say this team is a Super bowl contender if we had a better QB who could see the field and make more accurate  throws.

And I would have tons of pulled pork if pigs would magically fly out of my ass.

Football is a team sport.  Look at how bad Mahomes has looked late last year and early this year with a bad oline but still with all his weapons.

Getting a QB and having them play at a consistently high level requires many pieces coming together and patience.

Is Hurts there yet?  Obviously not.   Is he better now than he was to start the season?  Yes.   Is the team overall better including scheme and coaching?  Yes.  Are those to things correlated? Yes.  Is either one the sole cause?  No.

Would they be a better team with better QB play?  Yes.  Can Hurts progress to that level maybe.  He has progressed so far.

Would the Eagles be a better team with someone better than Reagor Getting all those snaps?  What about safety? What about LB? What about corner? Nelson gives up alot of completions.   What about DL? Eagles get eaten by good QBs.

It's a team game and no one outside the building knows scheme details and calls and how they are coached to play it.  They have alot of holes to fill and it's too early to dump Hurts and start over.  Chemistry is fickle and is huge in the NFL.  Eagles have it and Hurts is a leader in it.  That is a huge factor.  Chemistry won a super bowl in 2017.