With Philadelphia Eagles fans left scratching their heads over the league-wide survey that ranked their signal-caller as the 17th-best quarterback heading into the 2026 season, there's been a sudden media firestorm.
First, it was Jeremy Fowler joining 97.5 The Fanatic to shed light on some of the reasoning behind the Hurts' precipitous drop, which has seen him go from being the ninth-ranked QB a season ago to 17th this time around.
And while the Philly faithful are still trying to comprehend such a steep falloff, former NFL defensive back and current ESPN NFL Analyst Ryan Clark weighed in on the recent ranking - one which placed Hurts all the way down in the sixth tier of quarterbacks - with plenty of passion:
"When you are ranking the tiers of the quarterbacks, we're not just ranking on what a quarterback looked like last year, or a quarterback's skills. Jalen Hurts is a guy who two times has outplayed Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl," Clark said. "Jalen Hurts is a person who was second in MVP voting (in 2022). In my opinion, when you look at who he is in totality, there is no way he falls to that (sixth) tier."
Talk about a "what have you done for me lately" slap in the face to Jalen Hurts
That sixth tier in question, in the rankings compiled by Fowler from polling conducted among NFL executives, coaches, and scouts, places Hurts below the likes of Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels, Baker Mayfield, and Jordan Love, who helped comprise the fifth tier. None of the aforementioned names have gone toe-to-toe with Mahomes in such pressurized conditions, though Darnold, of course, is coming in red-hot after his own Super Bowl triumph.
Looking at each of the other names there, it can easily be argued that Hurts belongs in that grouping, while in tier 4, Justin Herbert and Jared Goff stand out as a pair of gifted quarterbacks who have each ultimately come up short when the lights are brightest.
Hurts thrives in the biggest spots, always has, and likely always will.
Given the serious recency bias, these rankings need to be taken with more than a grain of salt. Furthermore, where Hurts may fall a bit short in the field of NFL signal callers, in areas such as pure accuracy or sustained excellence in the run game, at the end of the day, there is no statistical category for his most redeeming attribute:
"He may not be the passer you want all the time. He may not be the runner you want all the time, but in the biggest moments, he's played his best football," Clark said.
This past season, fans saw a severely limited offense, one that failed to sustain any semblance of consistency from start to finish. Hurts struggled without question, but with a new vision in place offensively, an expected turnaround should be in store.
Read more: These 3 Eagles offensive performances in 2025 should be discussed more
And despite the endless chatter from naysayers, Hurts has always remained resolute in chasing winning over accolades and rings over rankings.
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