The Eagles have elected to go all-in with quarterback Jalen Hurts for 2021.
Trading out of No. 6 overall in late March made that decision clear, though the club did jump back into the top 10 last week to select wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
Hurts started just four games as a rookie, which means the upcoming season will be critical not only for his development, but also for the Eagles to evaluate him.
“Certainly you’re judging him off of four NFL starts, in a tough situation with all the injuries that we had,” General Manager Howie Roseman said during a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio. “We want to see him grab the job and kind of run with it, and see what you do over a period of time.”
Roseman noted that the best way to make decisions about a player is to actually see him play. That’s part of why Hurts has the opportunity in front of him.
“We want to be in a situation where we get as much information as possible, give him the best opportunity, build that offensive line, give him the right weapons, put him in a system that really maximizes his ability, and then go from there,” Roseman said.
Head coach Nick Sirianni declared last month it was too early to say if Hurts will be the team’s Week 1 starter. But with Joe Flacco as the only other quarterback currently on the Eagles roster, it’s much more likely than not that Hurts will be QB1.
Still, if Hurts doesn’t look like a franchise quarterback in the upcoming season, Philadelphia could have the ammo needed to select one in 2022. The club has its own and Miami’s first-round pick for next year’s draft.