Jalen Hurts lands in ‘prove-it-or-lose-it’ tier in recent QB power ranking
There are fine lines between ‘refreshers’, ‘quick updates’, and ‘beating something into the ground’. Throw this one in the category of those things we should already know and may have grown weary of hearing. It’s still worth a mention though because something tells us (or at least it should) that we’ll be discussing Jalen Hurts all season long.
Time flies when you’re having fun, and here we are. It’s already year three for the Philadelphia Eagles signal-caller, his second full run as the starter. The biggest narrative surrounding him is familiar as it’s the same thing that we said sometime around March of 2021.
Jalen Hurts seems to already know what Carson Wentz seemingly has never figured out. The title of QB1 is not a lifetime appointment, especially if you aren’t playing well, so even though we’ve found things to get excited about and find frustration with while watching his development, the coming regular season will be an 18-week, 17-game audition for the former Alabama Crimson Tide/Oklahoma Sooners star.
He’s been quite the conversation piece. Some are already having thoughts about their desire for the Eagles to move on. Others say patience is key. Both sides have a tendency to compare him to other quarterbacks. Recently, the stat gurus over at Pro Football Focus put an intriguing QB power ranking together.
Jalen Hurts lands in PFF’s fourth tier of quarterbacks, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
PFF’s Seth Galina stacked all of the starting quarterbacks recently, placing each one into one of six tiers:
- A: 30 and over (and still playing at an elite level)
- B: Shooting stars who are 30 and under
- C: The ‘mixed-bag’ guys who are polarizing
- D: Guys who are protected and/or propped up by the scheme they’re playing in
- D: The ‘prove-it-or-lose-it’ tier
- E: The ‘let’s not get our hopes up’ tier
- F: Second-year players in danger of the dreaded sophomore jinx
Without even reading the story, you’d probably already assume that Hurts would land somewhere in tier C, D, or E. If you guessed that he’s in the ‘prove-it-or-lose-it’ tier, give yourselves a gold star. Here’s some of Galina’s reasoning for making that determination:
"(Jameis Winston) was on pace for his best season as far as PFF grade is concerned, as his 74.2 grade before a season-ending knee injury would have eclipsed his 73.7-graded season in 2017… None of the players in this group have posted an 80.0-plus single-season grade in their career, but Jones’ 78.4 ranks No. 1, and he has two of three 70-plus-graded seasons… (Jalen Hurts) has the other 70-plus-graded season with a 77.1 grade last season. Lock has not even eclipsed a 65.0-plus single-season grade."
Joining Hurts, Winston, and Jones in tier D, which as you can see encompasses two categories, are Ryan Tannehill, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jared Goff (the ‘propped up by scheme’ guys). Tua Tagovailoa and Drew Lock join Hurts, Winston, and Jones in the ‘prove-it-or-lose-it’ class.
Game-by-game predictions following Bradberry's addition. light. Trending
Again, none of this should surprise you. You can best believe that it doesn’t surprise Jalen Hurts, but he’s shown nothing but confidence as year three approaches. He has the support of his coaches. He has the support of his teammates, but when you look at the supporting cast that’s been put around him, you have to believe that he has no excuses with another ‘prove-it-or-lose’ campaign on the horizon.