Eagles Jalen Hurts ‘Not a Top-10 QB’? Our Truth on NFL Rankings
PHILADELPHIA - Wait until Chris Simms’ quarterback rankings come out and the NFL analyst will do what he loves to do – underrate Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Exactly where he will rank Hurts is anybody’s guess, but, after the season the QB had last year, it would be hard to argue if Simms, who always seems to have an ax to grind against Hurts, didn't have him in the top half of others at his position.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) reacts during the second half of a 2024 NFC wild card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
The 33rd Team is a top site with some heavy-hitting contributors, including several Hall of Fame voters, former general managers, and knowledgeable others, including Derrik Klassen who put together his offseason quarterback rankings.
Hurts was just out of the top half, checking in at No. 17, that's too low, especially when Anthony Richardson, who played all of four games as a rookie for the Indianapolis Colts and completed less than 60 percent of his passes, was ranked a spot ahead of Hurts at No. 16.
Here are the top 15 ahead of Richardson and Hurts:
No. 1 – Patrick Mahomes
No. 2 – Lamar Jackson
No. 3 – Josh Allen
No. 4 – Justin Herbert
No. 5 – Matthew Stafford
No. 6 – Dak Prescott
No. 7 – C.J. Stroud
No. 8 – Trevor Lawrence
No. 9 – Joe Burrow
No. 10 – Jordan Love
No. 11 – Kyler Murray
No. 12 – Geno Smith
No. 13 – Kirk Cousins
No. 14 – Jared Goff
No. 15 – Aaron Rodgers
Offseason quarterback rankings heading into 2024
33rd Team
There are others on that list you could make an argument for Hurts being ranked higher, and I will make that argument.
The Eagles quarterback set career highs in passing yards (3,858 yards), passing touchdowns (23), and rushing touchdowns (15).
Not sure where he was ranked by Klassen last offseason when he was coming off his MVP runner-up year, but it couldn’t be below No. 5 at the lowest. So, with that in mind, is a drop that precipitous warranted after the season Hurts had, which, granted included a career-high in interceptions (15) and fumbles lost (five)?
My answer is no.
First of all, the quarterbacks who didn’t finish the season – Herbert, Burrow, Cousins, and Rodgers wouldn’t be in the top 15.
Second of all, a rookie quarterback who played four games like Richardson has no business being ahead of Hurts.
Third of all, Murray played half a season, albeit it was the second half of the season, but he didn’t do enough to land ahead of Hurts.
If you go with just what the QBs did this past season, my list would look quite different.
It would look like this:
No. 1 – Jackson
No. 2 – Stroud
No. 3 – Allen
No. 4 – Mahomes
No. 5 – Love
No. 6 – Prescott
No. 7 – Stafford
No. 8 – Brock Purdy (No. 18 by 33rd Team)
No. 9 – Hurts
No. 10 – Tua Tagovailoa (No. 19 by 33rd Team)
No. 11 – Lawrence
No. 12 – Smith
No. 13 – Murray
No. 14 – Goff
No. 15 – Baker Mayfield (No. 20 by 33rd Team)
That's the thing about rankings. They are subjective and everybody's is different. Even Simms' rankings.
