The Impossible Standards Jalen Hurts is Expected to Fulfill

Name ten quarterbacks better than Jalen Hurts.

I’ll wait…

Maybe Josh Allen.

Probably Patrick Mahomes.

Maybe Matthew Stafford.

Possibly Lamar Jackson.

Okay…that’s only four.

The current narrative surrounding Jalen Hurts is just as flimsy as this list.

Is it the Philadelphia fanbase that is illuminating the spotlight around Hurts or is it the media, overall, pulling strings from some proverbial whirlpool?

It feels long forgotten that the Eagles won the Super Bowl, not so long ago. And the MVP of that Super Bowl was Jalen Hurts. It seems long forgotten that two years before that, the Eagles almost beat the Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts could have been the MVP of that game until you know…a Patrick Mahomes thing happened. It’s funny, isn’t it? We expect our football teams to have it figured out all the time. If they win a championship, we expect them to win it again. If they have seasons of mediocrity, we expect them to fire everyone until they get it right. We expect perfection from our football teams in a world of imperfection. So, for the Eagles to be going through a season where they have looked anything but perfect, the criticism around the team has only expounded and someone…anyone…must be the scapegoat.

Do we ignore the fact that one of his star receivers, AJ Brown, has constantly inadvertently or advertently criticized the offensive game plan? Do we ignore the fact that, even though they won the Super Bowl last year, AJ Brown was reading a book on the sideline during a game and former players said Brown and Hurts barely talk to each other? Whether it is true or not, a football locker room is only so big, somewhere along the way, the worst will creep in.

Do we ignore the fact that Jalen Hurts has had six coordinators since he became the quarterback of the Eagles and his previous coordinator, is the coach of the New Orleans Saints? Having two coordinators in a season is tricky enough but having six in five years is a troubling trend. Do you think even the great Tom Brady, could have had six different offensive systems and then won his numerous Super Bowls? Highly unlikely. But we expect Jalen Hurts to do that and not blink an eye. Interesting. Let’s also not ignore the fact that once you’re the champion, you become the one everyone wants to beat. That is why it is so hard to repeat, in any sport. Nothing can threaten a team trying to win a championship, more than a desperate team with nothing to lose.

Before Jalen Hurts was drafted by the Eagles, he found plenty of success in college football. He led the Alabama Crimson Tide to two college football playoff appearances and even though he was replaced by Tua Tagovailoa in the national championship game, Hurts was able to go to the Oklahoma Sooners and find success and lead them to a college football playoff appearance. Jalen Hurts found plenty of success before he entered the NFL, as it seems that we have also forgotten.

Justin Hibbert is 0-2 in the playoffs. He has a passer rating of 60.7 with two touchdowns and four interceptions. He has played in the NFL during the same amount of time as Jalen Hurts and has only had two appearances in the playoffs. But nobody is more lauded in the NFL with such little success than perhaps Hibbert. I, myself, have watched Hibbert play and have been impressed by his throws and any player that can play with a broken hand, is commendable. Saying that, the narrative surrounding Hibbert can almost air on the side of delusional. He is constantly given, proverbial passes, for his lack of postseason success and notably, most of the blame for the Chargers’ struggles has fallen on previous coaches, team injuries or just better opponents. Hibbert’s first playoff game against the Jaguars ended in such embarrassing fashion, that it was historic. But somehow, Hibbert has escaped much criticism from that loss. If that had been Jalen Hurts, would he have escaped that? He can barely escape the current slander, and the Eagles still lead their division.

The NFL fans feel the ebbs and flows of a season like a kid during Christmas. They’re happily surprised when they get the new game they begged incessantly for or put at the very top of their list. They toss the pair of socks that they got to the side like a sack of garbage, even though their mom went to three stores to find the perfect ones. And when they don’t get exactly what they asked for, the tears come falling at a rapid pace or the disappointment reads all over their faces. Christmas morning can be a range of emotions. Much like the NFL season. Your team wins a game that they’re not supposed to and you’re full of elation. Your team loses a game on the last play, and you want to scream into a pillow. Your team suffers an embarrassing loss, and you want to throw your jersey into the snow. Just imagine having a team that has never ending losses. An NFL fan is like a kid on Christmas morning. I mean, even the Philly fans booed Santa Claus. Is it possible that our investment in our football teams is borderline childlike? We seek instant gratification. Any sign of cracks in our satisfaction and everything falls apart. But unlike that disinteresting pair of socks, we cannot toss our team’s quarterback to the side hoping for another one in return. Name ten quarterbacks better than Jalen Hurts, remember?

The Philadelphia Eagles were not going to go undefeated. Even the biggest Eagles fan couldn’t have believed that they weren’t going to have struggles throughout the season. Part of the conversation around this team is of course, warranted. Their offense has not been productive consistently and in their losses, they look like a team struggling with an identity of who they are. It is quite alarming that a team that not too long ago won a Super Bowl, is unsure of their identity but that is something that requires the whole team to be on the same page. At some point, Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo, need to figure it out. That is what they are in their positions for. If they don’t have expectations, then why are they in positions of leadership? For them not to shoulder any of blame…seems misguided.

One thing that is being completely ignored and not acknowledged is that the fact that Jalen Hurts is one of the few African Americans to still be starting in the 2025 season. Of the 16 that originally started the season, most of them have suffered injuries or have been benched. Being a face of a franchise holds with it enormous responsibility but being a face of a franchise, as an African American holds with it an even bigger responsibility. It is important in a league that claims to be a advocate for diversity that it continues to do just that. It seems slightly disheartening that an African American quarterback is facing such criticism. Race may not be the primary factor, but it is still an underlying factor.

The Philadelphia Eagles may look back on this season and wonder if time was wasted. If winning a Super Bowl was more of a distraction than they had anticipated. If keeping AJ Brown after the trade deadline was regrettable. If there was a hole somewhere that only got bigger by the week. And even more than that, if the Eagles entertain trading Jalen Hurts, what will the return on that investment be? Name ten better quarterbacks…right?

Jalen Hurts is entitled to have a rough game. He is entitled to have a few rough games. He is entitled to those things because he is a Super Bowl MVP. A SUPER BOWL MVP. There’s Hall of Fame quarterbacks that were never MVPs. There are Hall of Fame quarterbacks who never even made it to the Super Bowl. But Jalen Hurts did. There are plenty of teams that don’t even have their quarterback of the future. Teams that don’t even have their quarterback of the present. But we hold Jalen Hurts to some gigantic standard, as if, a team leading their division is in the arena as a team under 500. This narrative reads like the tenth remake of a great movie. By the fifth take, there are no original plotlines.

Stop rehashing the plot and let the original one be.