NFL Analyst Sounds Off on Reveal for Eagles’ Jalen Hurts

Despite helping his team find the highest level of success in the NFL this past season, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts still isn’t considered a top-five quarterback in the league, according to ESPN’s recent poll, which included votes from coaches, executives, and scouts.

Hurts cracked the top 10, but he came in at No. 9. Seeing some of the names ahead of him, many have pushed back on the idea that Hurts should be ranked that low. Count the former player-turned-analyst Emmanuel Acho as someone who recently came to the defense of Hurts’ placement.

“It’s completely asinine that Jalen Hurts isn’t in the Top 5, and I would suggest that bare, bare minimum top six,” Acho said on FS1 this week.

“For me, it’s very simple: Jalen Hurts, he wins. He wins at a high clip. I understand that winning and losing, you might suggest, is not a quarterback stat.”

In a team sport, the debate over wins and losses has always been a complicated one when it comes to quarterbacks. Acho understands that, but he pointed to two recent teams to help strengthen his argument for Hurts.

The 2023 San Francisco 49ers represented the NFC on the Super Bowl stage. Like Hurts, Brock Purdy and the 49ers faced Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, but they couldn’t get it done.

Before the Super Bowl occurred, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens took on the Chiefs for the AFC Championship. Despite Jackson being one of the top quarterbacks in the game, the Ravens couldn’t seal the deal.

Since taking over as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, Hurts has led Philadelphia to two Super Bowls. They lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs once, but recently got their revenge. Hurts was named the game’s MVP, which is an accolade that several quarterbacks ahead of him on the list do not have.

“You can’t just tell me, ‘Well, Jalen Hurts has such a good team.’ There have been a lot of good teams that fall short, and there have been a lot of good teams where the quarterback isn’t Super Bowl MVP,” Acho added. “Ask Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp how that went when Matthew Stafford finally won. For me, I’ve got Jalen Hurts at five.”

Hurts appeared in 15 games in 2024. He completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 2,903 yards and 18 touchdowns. It was his lowest volume of passing since he became a full-time starter in 2021. A lot of that had to do with the fact that Saquon Barkley was having a record-breaking run in the Eagles’ backfield.

While many have used Barkley’s success to discredit Hurts’ involvement in the Eagles winning it all last year, the quarterback’s performance in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl LIX should’ve helped solidify a higher spot on the list, as Hurts completed 74 percent of his passes for nearly 500 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception. He also racked up 88 rushing yards and scored four times on the ground.

For more Philadelphia Eagles and NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports