Philadelphia Eagles: Defending the Jalen Hurts draft pick at No. 53

Philadelphia Eagles fans should actually be excited by the team’s decision to bring Jalen Hurts on board as the new backup quarterback.

Contrary to many, I find two simple justifications for why the selection of Jalen Hurts at No. 53 in the 2020 NFL Draft actually makes sense for the Philadelphia Eagles.

When most die-hard Eagles fans heard NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the official selection of Hurts, reactions ranged from stunned silence to laughter to even the kind of boos that only Philly fans have truly mastered.

Since that time, the Hurts selection has dominated sports talk, not only in Philadelphia, but on the national level as well.

Reactions continue to be overwhelmingly negative for the most part, as plenty sports pundits and fans alike are of the belief the second round was way too high to take a backup quarterback, given the team’s current situation with Carson Wentz as their starter.

If anything, the case can be made that Philadelphia should have strongly considered the idea of using that second-round pick on an offensive lineman, but at least Hurts brings plenty to the table.

Between stints at Alabama and Oklahoma, Hurts finished his college career with a whopping 124 touchdown passes, making it easy to see why there was interest from the Eagles to arguably upgrade at the backup quarterback position.

Also, similar to how some fans reacted to the news of hurts, I will be it’s only a matter of time before the same fans are doing cartwheels over the explosive style of play Jalen Reager should bring to the table if he shines right away as a rookie.

But since that is a discussion for another day, it should be noted again that Wentz is clearly still the top option under center for Philadelphia heading into the 2020 season, plain and simple.

With that said, should Doug Pederson employ Hurts in a similar role as New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill by creatively getting the ball in Hurts’s hands a half dozen times per game, the play-making abilities Hurts displayed in college could pay similar dividends.

After the results of last season, Pederson needs to diversify his offense somehow, no matter what it takes, and Hurts is capable of finding a way to contribute.

Also, even if Pederson found ways to use Hurts on offense similar to Hill with the Saints, Nate Sudfeld could very well still be the backup quarterback on game day, as the first option to close a game should Wentz need a replacement.

If, however, Wentz is lost for a significant stretch of time, my money is on Hurts to be the quarterback, mainly because he is a multiple threat athlete.

There are many exceptional dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL, ranging from Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, and recent Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes.

All due respect to Sudfeld since he could still turn out to be a great backup at the NFL level, but Hurts seems like he would provide a better chance for the Eagles to win key games if needed due to Wentz being out.

Given the play-making abilities Hurts possesses and the unfortunate reality that Wentz lands on the injured list, this second-round pick by Philadelphia really doesn’t sound so bad after all.