Jalen Hurts isn’t the same 22-year-old kid who came to town five years ago in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s gotten married. He’s made millions. He’s been through some downs but mostly ups, with two excellent performances in both his Super Bowl appearances, and was the game’s MVP in one of them.
In short, Jalen Hurts has grown up. He has matured. In August, he will turn 27. He is in his prime and his star power has transcended the game.
Hurts is a better quarterback today than he was at the start of the decade and is in my top five of those QBs in the game right now.
For all he has accomplished – the nearly 15,000 yards passing and the 140 touchdowns combined between passing and rushing – he would still be my answer to anyone asking who my pick would be for the Eagles’ offensive breakout player of the 2025 season.
This will be Hurts’ best season, yet. He had his best spring, yet. Why is that, fans have asked me.
Maturity is one.
Winning a Super Bowl is two. He seems more relaxed, perhaps validating to himself that he can lead a team to the top of the mountain in the best football league in the world.
Constantly learning is three. And maybe that’s where the yearly change at offensive coordinator and even his quarterback coach comes in. Hurts has learned so much from each, and with each transition to a new one the task of adjusting and learning something new again has become easier for him.
“There is a dynamic of adaptability that you have to be able to have and find success regardless of what the leadership looks like, what the voice is, who's in the quarterback room coaching me or who's out there calling plays and so that's really where I put my energy at trying to decode these things and kinda figure it out on my terms a little bit and find a way to make it go,” he said.
Hurts doesn't get enough credit for his intelligence or his ability to take care of the football. Only once has he thrown double-digit intercepions in a season. Last year, he threw two in the final 16 games of the season, including a streak of nine games without one until he threw one in Super Bowl LIX.
With defenses expected to load up to stop Saquon Barkley, and maybe it will work for some of the better teams, Hurts will make them pay for doing that.
“They (opposing defenses) have to pick their poison,” said Hurts. “It's just a matter of going out there and executing. Make sure we're in position to do what we're gonna do. When there's an opportunity to make it happen, make it happen.”
This feels like a 4,000-yard passing season for Hurts. It would be his first and he would join Carson Wentz as the only two QBs in Eagles history to do it.
This just feels like a season will be his very best.
