The Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and the GM Howie Roseman did a phenomenal job in the NFL draft 2024. The team drafted a total of 19 players on both sides of the ball. However, their off-season trades and contract extensions were so good that Jalen Hurts seems to have his team set for success.
The team gave a 3-year extension to AJ Brown through 2029, got RB Saquon Barkley in the arsenal, and paid Jordan Mailata a handsome sum of money in order to make things sorted for the side. As the 2023 season ended, the Eagles were ranked 9 in terms of red zone offense with a 60% TD rate, which has been a lingering problem with the team. Now, matters finally look to be turning around for them!
Jalen Hurts should have no problems with ‘commitment’ this season
The hosts of SPEAK had a similar assessment of the Eagles and they believe that the team management has given Jalen Hurts everything he could ask for to succeed in the coming season. So, is there pressure on Hurts? Definitely so. But all this was a result of the Eagles QB calling out his team for not being “committed enough.”
Joy Taylor on the show pointed out more reasons why Jalen Hurts has to perform this year. “As far as pressure for actually having pieces around you, he doesn’t have a lot of pressure. But because he has those pieces around him, he has to perform. I do think there’s a lot of questions about Jalen Hurts,” said Taylor.
Hurts has his main receiver, AJ Brown, who had 1,456 yards and 7 TDs last season, and the QB has another high-end receiver in DeVonta Smith, who had 1,066 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. Now, the Eagles paired him with one of the most prolific running backs in the league, Saquon Barkley.
Last year, after losing 20-17 to the Seattle Seahawks, Hurts addressed the media and said, “I’ve been talking about execution all year, being on the same page, everyone being on the same page,” and added, “We didn’t execute. I don’t think we’re, we’re all, we’re committed enough. Just got to turn it around. You know, it’s a challenge that we have to embrace. Just continue to see it through.”
In the 2022 season, when Jalen Hurts took the Eagles to the Super Bowl, the Eagles scored 68% of the time they were in the opposing 20-yard line. When the 2023 season started, that number went down to 42.1% and they ranked 27 in the red zone offense in a cumulative of 5 games. With the new season setting its roots now, can the Eagles improve their offense now?
Growth of Eagles on charts with the updated roster!
In technicality, with the offense the Eagles hold, the answer to the status of the team’s situation should be positive in all scenarios. But the gridiron is an unpredictable place, and injuries can take place more often than expected. Hurts got injured toward the end of the season last year after he dislocated a finger on his dominant hand. But he seems to be recovering well and amidst this, Saquon Barkley is also already having a blast working out with the Eagles QB. He thinks that he can “build something” with Hurts and the squad.
“It’s been amazing,” Barkley said of working with Hurts. “I’ve always admired his game from afar, not just Jalen, a whole bunch of guys here. So, it’s been fun to learn the system, get into the weight room with these guys, get on the field with these guys, especially Jalen, and continue to build something.”
On two separate occasions, Barkley sustained a pedal ankle sprain and an elbow sprain forcing him to miss 3 games in the last season. However, he still came up with 962 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns in that season. Hence, the Eagles would want to avoid these scenes of injury and wish to continue on the path of a potentially set narrative of success.
One more reason the Eagles performed badly last year had to do with the defensive side of the ball. Nick Sirianni replaced Sean Desai with Matt Patricia, who left the booth he was in and came to the sidelines to call plays. This came after the team gave away 109 points in a matter of 3 games, per NBC. An SB Nation journalist James Dator called the move, “the stupidest, most mind-numbing in-season coaching decision.”
However, the team made some major coaching decisions this season by hiring Kellen Moore as their new OC and bringing back Vic Fangio to handle the defensive side of things. The Eagles’ defense was monumentally bad, and FOX Sports placed them 26 after they allowed 356.1 yards per game on average, another 426 in playoffs, while they gave away 51 touchdowns in the regular season and 3 more in playoffs.
So, to answer the initial question remains, yes, Jalen Hurts has a lot of pressure on him after the team hired new coaches added veteran offensive pieces around him, and drafted 20 rookies in the off-season. But it must also provide him with much-needed confidence going into another season as the starting QB. Will Hurts meet the expectations? What are your thoughts on the Philly team? Let us know below!
