Top 25 Eagles Ranked: Jalen Hurts a Surprise at No. 4?

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts doesn't finish atop the rankings in our top-25 countdown of the best players on the roster.

PHILADELPHIA – The countdown of the top 25 current Philadelphia Eagles is nearing an end, with the revelation of our fourth-ranked player.

This one is sure to trigger some debate.

Despite being the league’s runner-up as the most valuable player, signing a $255 million contract extension, which briefly made him the NFL’s highest-paid player until Lamar Jackson’s new contract with the Baltimore Ravens slightly exceeded it, and playing the most visible, if not most important position on the field, the Eagles quarterback could do no better than taking the fourth spot.

Of course, he is:

QB JALEN HURTS

The reason Hurts isn’t higher, even at the very top of the rankings, isn’t for anything he did or didn’t do. It’s just that he is on a team where there are three other players, in the estimation of team beat writers Ed Kracz and John McMullen, who are not only better at what they do but have been doing it longer.

The final three ranked players will be revealed over the course of the next three days – July 12, 13, and 14.

The process behind the top-25 list started with Kracz and McMullen putting together their own top 25 players independent of each other’s rankings and then assigning point values, with 25 points awarded to the player ranked first on each list, 24 to the player ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.

The highest ranking from either reporter breaks any ties in the ballot.

It should be noted that the discrepancy between each beat writer’s ranking of Hurts was one of the widest of any other player that has been ranked so far.

Kracz put Hurts second in his rankings. McMullen had him fifth.

“While some might view it as a slight, No. 5 on what might be the best roster in football is no insult,” McMullen said. “Quarterback is the most impactful position in the sport but that’s a different debate. As far as doing their particular jobs there are still four better football players on the Eagles in my opinion.”

The widest disparity between the two beats came with running back D’Andre Swift, who Kracz had ranked 13th and McMullen 22nd.

Other noticeable differences between Kracz and McMullen were:

Jordan Davis – Kracz 20; McMullen 17.

Terrell Edmunds – Kracz 25; McMullen 22

Kenny Gainwell – Kracz unranked; McMullen 23

Here’s how the rankings shake out so far:

No. 25 – RB Kenny Gainwell

No. 24 – LB Nicholas Morrow

No. 23 – S Reed Blankenship

No. 22 – S Terrell Edmunds

No. 21 – K Jake Elliott

No. 20 – LB Nakobe Dean

No. 19 – DT Jordan Davis

No. 18 – DT Jalen Carter

No. 17 – RB D’Andre Swift

No. 16 – DT Milton Williams

No. 15 – DT Fletcher Cox

No. 14 – CB Avonte Maddox

No. 13 – DE Brandon Graham

No. 12 – CB James Bradberry

No. 11 – OG Landon Dickerson

No. 10 – LT Jordan Mailata

No. 9 – CB Darius Slay

No. 8 – DE Josh Sweat

No. 7 – TE Dallas Goedert

No. 6 – WR DeVonta Smith

No. 5 – EDGE Haason Reddick

No. 4 – QB Jalen Hurts

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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