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Jalen Hurts: When and Where?

Oklahoma's most recent record-setting quarterback awaits his NFL Draft fate in Friday's second and third rounds

John E. Hoover

Jalen Hurts: When and Where?
Jalen Hurts: When and Where? /
Jalen Hurts
Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts has been projected to go anywhere from the second round to the fourth round in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Hurts was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year as a true freshman and was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year as a senior.

In between, he had five different quarterback coaches and five different offensive coordinators, turned in several uneven performances at Alabama, lost his starting job, saved his team coming off the bench with a fourth-quarter rally, transferred to Oklahoma and finished second in the 2019 Heisman Trophy voting.

Some NFL teams may view Hurts as a long-term backup quarterback, while others probably project him as a multi-tool player with a varied skill set, and yet others seem confident he may have what it takes to be a starter.

After producing the first pick in the draft in both 2018 and 2019, Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley is hoping Hurts goes soon as the 2020 NFL Draft resumes Friday night.

“I’ve kinda fielded calls from just about every type of different offense that you can see in the NFL,” Riley said this week. “I mean, I think the interesting thing is that not many people crossed him off the list. I think he’s intriguing to a lot of different people, but I think certainly, the number one thing for him and my number one hope is that he can just get in a situation where he can have some continuity. I think that’s the most important thing for him.

“I think he could potentially be very successful in a number of different offenses. There are certainly some right now that are moving the quarterback around, taking advantage of different athletic skill sets. Kinda similar to what the Ravens have done for Lamar (Jackson), that I think naturally makes sense. I think anybody that takes Jalen is gonna be excited about where his throwing ability is headed and also obviously excited about what he brings to the table from an athletic standpoint as well.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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