Cam Newton reveals QB top 10, with contradictory ranking for ‘game manager’ Jalen Hurts, ‘Hurts doesn’t have to…’

Why Cam Newton didn’t put Jalen Hurts in his top 10 quarterback rankings

Cam Newton’s top ten rankings came out yesterday, with Josh Allen listed as the best quarterback in the NFL. He made the point that Allen doesn’t have an elite receiver, and the Buffalo Bills are still winning a wealth of games because of their quarterback.

Newton then had Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes at two and three, followed by Joe Burrow at four and Matthew Stafford at five. He then rounded out the list with Jared Goff, Jayden Daniels, CJ Stroud, Justin Herbert, and Baker Mayfield, in that order.

Earlier this week, Colin Cowherd ranked Jalen Hurts ninth in his top ten, bumping him down a little as a pure passer, which is somewhat fair.

Everyone’s definition of what makes a great quarterback is slightly different. Some will judge quarterbacks as pure passers, others consider the momentum of the offense, and for some, it comes down to other factors like leadership and elevating the game of the players within their offense.

Cam Newton explained his decision to leave Hurts out by saying:

“It’s hard for me to grade Jalen Hurts with the talent he has around him. Jalen Hurts is a great quarterback, but if we’re talking about what they bring to the table, holistically. It’s hard for me to judge when you’re throwing to a guy like AJ Brown or DeVonta Smith.”

His comments seemed a little harsh considering he had Joe Burrow ranked fourth, with the reasoning being his elite wide receiver duo. Cam said if Burrow had a defense, he might be the league MVP.

“Jalen Hurts does not have to play elite for the Philadelphia Eagles to win. He has to play good, but he doesn’t have to play elite. We’re not asking you to win the game, we’re just asking you not to lose it… Game changer, game manager, those are the things you have to ask yourself.”

He does have a valid argument when it comes to Joe Burrow making more happen with less, he just didn’t necessarily present it in the right way while flying through his top ten.

The Cincinnati Bengals are paying Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins so much that they’ve had to make sacrifices in other areas, including the offensive line and talent such as running back Joe Mixon, who was pushed out due to cap constraints.

Burrow has never had an offensive line that resembles anything close to the dominant unit the Eagles have, which has featured at least two future Hall of Famers in Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.

The Bengals QB has also never had an elite defense, while the Eagles are stacked with talent across the board.

Philadelphia’s defense is a major factor in their current success, ahead any other star quarterback’s unit

The Eagles’ defense ranked number one in several major categories in the 2024 season. They were exceptional all season.

Philadelphia allowed 18.1 points per game (ranked #1), 288.6 yards per game (#1), 4.8 yards per play (#1), and forced 1.9 takeaways per game (#1). They also allowed only two touchdowns per game (#3), and gave up touchdowns on 49% of their opponents red zone trips (#6).

Howie Roseman has invested serious capital into the defense in recent years, and all of those draft picks are contributing. With the addition of linebacker Jihaad Campbell in the first round of the 2025 draft, there are now five first-round picks from the past four drafts playing important roles on the defensive side of the ball (Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith Jr., Quinyon Mitchell, and Jihaad Campbell).

That’s without considering second-round pick Cooper DeJean, who had a crucial interception in the Super Bowl, and the Eagles second rounder in 2025, safety Andrew Mukuba.

Jalen Hurts is fortunate to have an exceptional roster around him, yes, and because of that, he’s asked to do a little less than some of the other elite QBs around the league. However, great roster construction and team building shouldn’t be a reason to degrade the performance of the franchise quarterback.

One-on-one, Joe Burrow is going to be a better pure passer, sure, but he couldn’t run the Eagles offense the way Jalen Hurts does. They’ve built the system around him, and it works. He’s an exceptional leader and the strongest quarterback in the league, which affords the Eagles a unique ability to drive the football forward.

He may not be number one, but if we’re truly looking at it holistically, he should be in the top ten.