No matter how much talk there is about Deshaun Watson possibly coming to Philadelphia, at this time Jalen Hurts remains the Eagles’ No. 1 quarterback entering the 2021 season.
How he will play as a first-time Week 1 starter under first-year head coach Nick Sirianni?
Hurts appeared in 15 games, 4 as a starter, in 2020 and recorded 9 total touchdowns (6 passing, 3 rushing).
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NBC Sports betting partner PointsBet lists Hurts’ over/under on total passing and rushing touchdowns at 24.5. That number is interesting considering it’s now a 17-game schedule and Hurts can hurt opposing defenses with his legs as well.
However, we only have a small sample size to judge Hurts’ ability. That includes a four-game stretch at the end of the season in which he went 1-3 as a starter.
Past Eagles quarterbacks have had their share of ups and down in their first seasons anointed as the starting QB.
Randall Cunningham (1987 - 12 games): 23 passing TD, 3 rushing TD
NFL
Donovan McNabb (2000 - 16 games): 21 passing TD, 6 rushing TD
Carson Wentz (2016 - 16 games): 16 passing TD, 2 rushing TD
All three of the above-mentioned quarterbacks, similar to Hurts, were all playing under coaches who also were young in their head coaching careers.
It will be interesting to see how Hurts performs this season for a team that doesn’t have high expectations from analysts across the nation. One thing we do know is anything is possible in the NFC East considering Washington won the division a season ago with a 7-9 record.
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