The Philadelphia Eagles’ selection of Jalen Hurts will raise eyebrows, but they did what the Green Bay Packers should have.
For the second straight round, an NFC playoff team made an unexpected pick at quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft, with the Philadelphia Eagles sure to face plenty of questions about the wisdom of selecting Jalen Hurts with the 53rd overall pick.
It was a stunner from the Eagles, who addressed the need at wide receiver with Jalen Reagor in the first round but still have holes, particularly in the secondary, that are much more pressing that quarterback.
While the merits of Philadelphia taking a backup quarterback this early are certainly up for debate, their decision to do so provided a lesson to the Green Bay Packers, who strangely traded up for a developmental passer in Jordan Love in the first round.
The addition of Hurts gives the Eagles a dual-threat quarterback they can incorporate into packages where he has the option to run or pass while developing him into a viable starter they could eventually flip for future draft capital.
With Carson Wentz’s troubling injury history, Hurts has significant value as a backup with much higher upside than Nate Sudfeld and Kyle Lauletta.
Providing Wentz stays healthy, the odds of Hurts ever being the Eagles’ long-term option under center are slim. It is a different situation in Green Bay, where Love was clearly selected as the successor to Aaron Rodgers.
But the Eagles selection of Hurts proves the Packers did not need to spend a first-round pick to find a developmental passer to mold into a starter. Though he does not have the elite arm Love possesses, Hurts boasts a very similar skill set and the Packers could have selected him as the quarterback of the future at a cheaper price while using their first-round pick to improve the present for Rodgers.
The Hurts pick will come in for criticism in Philadelphia, but there is every chance it proves a more astute move than the Packers going up to get Love.