The Alabama Crimson Tide not only succeed in NCAA Football regularly, but they also send many of their players to the next level which is the National Football League. Many have gone on to become stars in the NFL. Julio Jones, Derrick Henry, Amari Cooper, Tua Tagovailoa, Patrick Surtain II, Jerry Jeudy and that’s just to name a few. For three seasons in Tuscaloosa, the Tide had the services of a Quarterback named Jalen Hurts. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Jalen in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the 53rd overall pick. Today, he got his contract extension. A five-year deal worth $255 million and $179 million guaranteed which officially makes him the highest-paid player in the history of the NFL.
In just a short period of time, Jalen has become a top-four Quarterback in our league. To be so young at 24 years old, he has excellent pocket awareness, and he doesn’t force the football to his receivers meaning if they’re well covered, he’s not throwing in that direction. Whoever is open is getting the ball and that is what impresses me about his game. Jalen can make all the passes from the short screen throws, the intermediate passes over the middle and floats the ball well down the field. He knows how to hit his receivers in stride and place the ball only to where his intended receiver can make the best play on the football. When I watch him, I see a very calm and collected player that feels he can complete each pass when the ball leaves his hand. Back to his ways in the pocket for a quick moment. I remember watching tape of his first season as the Eagles starting Quarterback, I noticed two things. The first was how he scrambled too early before his receivers were able to break away and get open, while the other was Jalen holding onto the ball too long. What worried me was when teams shut down the Eagles running game, his game would fold unfortunately. When defenses dared him to be a typical Quarterback and beat them from the pocket, he almost looked lost at times and when the first read was open, he’d take off to try and scramble which the opponent expected. In 2022, he improved tremendously from the pocket and improved his yards per attempt in the pocket from 7.2 to 8.8. Jalen can also hurt you with his mobility and he’s tough to bring down in the open field displaying strength that allows him to drive would be tacklers and uses his feet to stay upright.
I look at how Jalen has become a true student of the game and the strides he’s made to become more of a traditional Quarterback. I feel what helped him was the one year he played at the University of Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley. Under Lincoln, Jalen became a Heisman candidate. He’s gradually climbed the ladder every season since his freshman year at Alabama. With Jalen last season, the Eagles won the NFC East, won 14 games which is a franchise record, clinched the number one seed in the NFC Playoffs and helped lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl where they unfortunately fell short to the Kansas City Chiefs. He was an MVP candidate and threw 32 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. This is well deserved. I love his leadership and his teammates would run through a brick wall for him.
