The debate about whether Jalen Hurts should be the team’s starter in 2022 is likely over. He secured that job when he helped lead the team to an unexpected spot in the playoffs.
Outside of just the team success, however, Hurts numbers this season put him in a rare and elite group of quarterbacks.
Hurts is now at 3,144 passing yards and 784 rushing yards, making him only the 7th quarterback in NFL history to top 3,000 passing yards and 750 rushing yards, according to Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports.
Hurts joins a list that includes:
Randall Cunningham (1990)
Robert Griffin III (2012)
Russell Wilson (2014)
Cam Newton (2017)
Lamar Jackson (2019)
Kyler Murray (2020)
Jalen Hurts (2021)
Hurts’ 3,928 offensive yards are the 6th-most by any Eagles QB since the 2000 season, trailing only Carson Wentz in 2019 (4,282), Donovan McNabb in 2004 (4,095), 2008 (4,063) and 2000 (3,987), and Wentz again in 2016 (3,932).
According to Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Hurts will be the youngest quarterback in franchise history to start a playoff game. To put that in context, Hurts will be younger when he starts his first playoff game than Wentz was when he started his first game in the NFL back in 2016.
Add up those three stats -- his rare numbers, compared to other quarterbacks in league history and two of the most productive in franchise history, with his youth and there is no question Hurts should be the starter in 2022.
While each quarterback on the above list, plus McNabb and Wentz, have had varying degrees of success, there is no question they were all at one point consider franchise quarterbacks. They were all also considering elite at one point, with most of them having long, successful careers — Cunningham, McNabb, Wilson and Newton. Jackson and Murray have been two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for multiple seasons. Only Griffin and Wentz have not had sustained success, with injuries playing a major role in their downfall.
This isn’t to say Hurts will definitely go on to have the same success as the players on that list. He still has plenty of work to do to be mentioned or considered as one of the best quarterbacks in the game.
If Hurts was a top-three pick, or drafted to be the franchise quarterback, however, there would be no debate on if he is the guy for the future. He has come in this season and taken a 4-11-1 team to the playoffs while putting up rare numbers.
That should be enough to lock up the job for 2022. Chances are it is, and the Eagles will go into next season with Hurts as their starter.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com