The Philadelphia Eagles drafted former Alabama Crimson Tide and Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round. Twitter obviously exploded.
There haven’t been all that many surprises in the 2020 NFL Draft through the first two rounds. Well, unless you’re counting whatever John Schneider and the Seattle Seahawks are doing. But with the No. 53 overall pick in the second round, the Philadelphia Eagles set social media ablaze by drafting former Alabama Crimson Tide and Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts was an unbelievable college player, first with Alabama and then in his final year with Oklahoma. He reached the College Football Playoff all four years in school. Unless you played for the Clemson Tigers, nobody else can honestly say that the last four years. Hurts is a high-character guy and a player who absolutely want to route for.
However, Philadelphia is in Wentzylvania, as the Eagles are Carson Wentz‘s team. Then again, Philadelphia has always prioritized having a quality backup quarterback. Hurts would certainly be that to Wentz right away, possibly being used in a Taysom Hill role like the former BYU quarterback is used with the New Orleans Saints.
Here is how Twitter handled Hurts becoming the latest member of The Birds.
Clearly, there is a lot to digest here. Seemingly everyone approves of Hurts as a football player and as a person. Of course, some people hate the idea of him being used as a glorified gadget player like Hill is with the Saints. The guy is a quarterback and won more in college than just about anyone.
As for Wentz, yes, he might feel some pressure from this selection, but not a ton. Wentz did have a former Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl MVP back him up for a few years in Nick Foles. While Wentz is the more talented quarterback, it was Foles who has won all the playoff games of the Doug Pederson era in Philadelphia.
What might even be more awkward is his starting right tackle Lane Johnson immediately gave praise to the Eagles’ second-round draft pick, mostly because of Boomer Sooner. You can’t really blame him for seeing a guy from his alma mater join the ranks. The only question is how does Wentz feel about it. It’ll be odd, but that’s just part of the Philadelphia quarterbacking experience.