Jalen Hurts: ESPN draft expert names possible replacement for Eagles QB

As you’re well aware, there’s a contingent that believes the Philadelphia Eagles should move on from Jalen Hurts. If you’re among the number, you won’t have very many issues with finding someone to stand with you in your argument.

Hurts was immediately placed on the back burner in the minds of some when there were rumors that Philly might have interest in Deshaun Watson. Some wanted nothing to do with Watson. Others were all in, but it doesn’t stop there. There were conversations about whether or not Hurts was even the best quarterback on his own team.

Hurts has, at times, been seen as a placeholder. There were discussions about Joe Flacco coming to Philadelphia and immediately stating that he was here to compete. Some thought he’d win the job, especially when head coach Nick Sirianni refused to name a starter during the offseason (and even though we were aware of the fact that Jeffrey Lurie stated he wanted his team to put the necessary pieces around Hurts to ensure his success). It doesn’t end there though.

Following the decision to send Flacco to the New York Jets, some are waiting for the Birds to pull the trigger and start Gardner Minshew in his place, and even, with that being said, there was still a belief that Jalen Hurts may not be the guy before any of that.

ESPN’s Todd McShay mentions a possible replacement for Jalen Hurts.

Long before there were thoughts of DeVonta Smith being drafted to give Jalen Hurts a premier target, Philly’s QB1 threw the rainbow touchdown pass in Green Bay versus the Packers or Hurts surprised everyone by beating the New Orleans Saints in his first career start, there were the rumblings that began when everyone began asking if Carson Wentz should be benched.

Some didn’t even see Hurts as someone that should replace Wentz despite Carson’s struggles. We know how that turned out though. Here we are many months later. Week 8’s game marks the eighth start of his career. It’s also the final week of action before the NFL trade deadline.

We haven’t heard Hurts’ name in any trade rumors, but people have mentioned theories that Philadelphia could pursue a quarterback in the next NFL Draft. Recently, ESPN draft wiz Todd McShay appeared on a recent edition of Get Up!. He thinks he has the cure for what ails this Eagles franchise, and it comes from drafting Malik Willis out of Liberty. Here’s some of what McShay had to say on the subject.

"I wouldn’t say he’s the biggest reason why the Eagles are struggling, but I don’t think he’s the answer moving forward if you’re trying to build a championship roster and trying to make a legitimate run at the Super Bowl. So, if they’re in position to get Malik Willis, who has emerged as the No. 1 clear-cut quarterback in this year’s class coming out of Liberty, I think they have to make that pick."

Willis is a six-foot-one and 215-pound signal-caller who began his career at Auburn but transferred to Liberty prior to the 2020 NCAA football season.

"He’s a bigger, mobile version. You know, both guys, Hurts and Willis, have mobility, but I think (Willis) creates more and he’s more dynamic throwing the ball on the run and throwing the ball down the field than Hurts has been in his first couple of years with the Eagles… I think they go quarterback if they have the opportunity to take Willis with that first pick, whatever that pick, number-wise, ends up being. Maybe they use one of their other first-round picks, they’ve got three in the first round coming up in 2022, to move up and go get Willis to make sure they can get ahead of some other teams that might have interest."

At the time of this story being written and published, eight games of Malik Willis’ 2021 season are in the books. In all, over the course of 30 games at the collegiate level, he’s completed 302 of 462 career passes for 3,998 yards. He’s tossed 38 touchdowns versus 12 interceptions.

As a runner of the football, he’s carried the rock 287 times for 1900 yards, and he’s reached the end zone 25 more times with his legs. So far, there have been no major parallels, other than McShay’s, that have connected the Eagles’ dot to that of Willis’. Still, seeing as how he’s among the more highly-touted signal-callers that will be entering the next NFL Draft (and seeing as how the Birds have question marks at the quarterback position), don’t assume that Philly doesn’t know who this guy is.

Keep both eyes on this one. This is a narrative that could begin to build some steam later.