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Former NFL wide receiver James Jones has weighed in on the Jalen Hurts-Dak Prescott debate. Due to Hurts and Prescott being the quarterbacks of division rivals in the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, a lot of fans and pundits compare the two, and Jones firmly is in the Prescott camp.
“Are we talking the player or we talking the team success?” James Jones said, via Speak on FS1. “There's nothing that Jalen Hurts does better than Dak Prescott at the quarterback spot but the read option. He don't throw better than him. He don't throw with anticipation better than him. I mean this dude was 5,000 yards last year. Led the NFL in touchdown passes. There's nothing Jalen Hurts, except running the read option and maybe the tush push that he does better than Dak Prescott. And I like Jalen Hurts. And Jalen Hurts is going to be a really good quarterback in this league. But Dak Prescott at this point right now in the National Football League does everything better than Jalen Hurts at that quarterback spot. Is it a team goal or we talking about a quarterback? Cause I put winning on the team. You need defenses and all that to win.”
.@89JonesNTAF: There’s nothing that Jalen Hurts does better than Dak Prescott at the QB spot but the read option. 👀 pic.twitter.com/0WG1GxvfaI
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) July 8, 2024
Dak Prescott was in the MVP conversation late last year, but games against the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins hurt his case at the end of the regular season, but he turned in a very strong regular season for the Cowboys. Of course, Dallas went out with a very disappointing performance against the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round, and turnovers from Prescott played a part in that loss, along with a bad performance from the defense.
Hurts had very high highs, especially in 2022, when he was in the MVP conversation before getting hurt. He led the Eagles to the Super Bowl that year. In 2023, the Eagles faded down the stretch, and Hurts struggled, but many believe that was due to the offensive system not being prepared to deal with blitzes. Not having blitz beaters in the offense is tough to deal with, regardless of how good you are as a quarterback.
Of course, Hurts has been to a Super Bowl and Prescott has mainly been known for playoff failures, but it is interesting to hear Jones bring up team success, as he could argue that the Cowboys were the more successful team in 2023. Dallas won the division, in large part due to the strong play of Prescott.
Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott's outlooks for 2024
For Hurts and the Eagles, they will be transitioning to a new play caller in Kellen Moore, who used to be Prescott's play caller with the Cowboys. The hope is that Moore gives more solutions for Hurts with an offense that is even more stacked with weapons after signing Saquon Barkley. However, the loss of Jason Kelce will be big when it comes to setting protections, and Moore is known for putting a lot on his quarterbacks when it comes to pre-snap processing. Still, Hurts should have little excuses this season with the talent on the offensive side of the ball.
For Prescott, this is a vital year, as he is set to be a free agent next offseason. It would be surprising to see the Cowboys let him go, but it seems possible at the moment, as they have not extended him and are rolling with his big cap hit for the 2024 season. Due to that, along with not extending Micah Parsons or CeeDee Lamb as of yet, the Cowboys did not add much at all in free agency, and even lost a few pieces. The overall core of the team is strong, and Prescott should have enough to succeed this season, but on paper, the Cowboys are not as strong and most do not believe they will compete with the true contenders in the NFC. Based on how this year plays out, it will be interesting to see how the contract situation goes for Prescott, who should get a big deal, whether that is with the Cowboys or another team.
