Although the Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl 10 months ago, went to another a few years ago, and are on track to again win the NFC East, the Jalen Hurts era in Philly may be closer to ending than beginning.
Hurts just had one of his worst games as an NFL player — he threw four interceptions in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers — and on the heels of that, more and more analysts and fans are reportedly starting to murmur about his eventual replacement.
“Some people around the league were starting to think the Eagles might draft a quarterback high in 2026 even before Jalen Hurts' four-interception performance Monday,” ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote. “The prediction from those folks: [general manager Howie] Roseman snags a passer on Day 2, allowing Hurts to serve as the starter in 2026 while having a future starter to develop. ‘[The Eagles] will do to Jalen what they did to Carson Wentz,' one industry source predicted.
“The Eagles know that their passing game struggles largely because Hurts has limitations. The reality is the 2024 season was an aberration because Saquon Barkley and a dominant O-line were breaking off big gains weekly, opening up play-action and downfield shots for the passing game. This isn't the same offensive line, which means the Barkley gains aren't as frequent. That places the spotlight on Hurts, for better or worse. We saw the good in glimpses against the Chargers — an 11-play drive late in the first half was run-heavy and set up a pair of 11-yard completions for Hurts. But the game featured Hurts in straight dropback situations often, and that can lead to problems.”
Back in 2020, the Eagles drafted Hurts with the 53rd overall pick despite already having Wentz, a former second-overall pick, coming off a year in which he threw for a career-high 4,039 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. Late in the 2020 season, a disastrous campaign for Philadelphia, Hurts replaced Wentz and remained the starter for the season. In the following offseason, the Eagles traded Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts.
The trade proved to be an ingenious one, as Wentz has not been able to recapture the success he had in his five seasons with the Eagles. Meanwhile, Hurts became an MVP runner-up in his second year as the starter, and he has earned two Pro Bowl appearances and made it to two Super Bowls, including earlier this year when he led the Eagles to a dominant win and was rewarded with the game MVP award.
This year, though, has been a struggle; after a 4-0 start to the season, Philadelphia dropped back-to-back games, including a decisive loss to the New York Giants, before four straight. Since then, though, the Eagles have lost their last three, and in those losses, Hurts has completed less than 60% of his passes, thrown 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and lost two fumbles while the team has averaged 18 points per game. On Monday against the Chargers, Hurts, who has two years left on his five-year, $225 million deal, went 21-for-40 with 240 yards, no touchdowns, and four picks.
Hurts and the Eagles would appear to have a classic get-back game this weekend when they host the 2-11 Las Vegas Raiders in Philadelphia.
