Eagles’ Jalen Hurts the only quarterback in last 70 years to accomplish this feat in first career start
Jalen Hurts set a number of marks for NFL quarterbacks that the NFL hasn’t seen since at least 1950 in his first career start for the Philadelphia Eagles. Hurts, who led the Eagles to a shocking victory over the New Orleans Saints, became the first quarterback in the past 70 years to throw for 150 yards with a passing touchdown and rush for 100 yards in his first career start.
Hurts finished 17 for 30 for 167 yards with a touchdown in the victory. He also finished with 18 carries for 106 yards with a fumble, his lone turnover of the day. Hurts also became the first quarterback over the past 70 years to throw a touchdown pass and rush for 100 yards in his first career start. He joined Lamar Jackson as the only quarterbacks since 1950 to have 100-plus rush yards in their first career start, and Hurts had the first 100-yard rushing performance for an Eagles quarterback since Michael Vick on Dec. 19, 2010.
“He played awesome today. The tape shows for itself,” Eagles running back Miles Sanders said to reporters after Sunday’s win. “He’s so confident and he’s a natural leader. We just needed that and he gave us that spark to start from last week. But ya’ll seen it all. I think we played a whole total of four quarters today. I think we looked like a complete team, minus the penalties, we have to clean that up, but overall though I think this whole team did a hell of a job.”
Hurts became the second quarterback in NFL history to win his first career start against a team that had won at least nine straight games — which was the Saints’ winning streak heading into the game. The other quarterback to accomplish the feat was Ron Jaworski, when he started for the Los Angeles Rams and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1975 (the Steelers won 11 straight games). Jaworski was the Eagles quarterback from 1977 to 1986.
“He played exceptionally well. He hurt us,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said to reporters after the loss. “We’ll take a look at the tape. Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job of slowing [his run game] down. When a team rushes for 250 yards, not a lot of good can happen.
“I’ll say this – he was impressive just watching him. I thought he played with poise, made great throws, and was smart. He did a great job.”
Jalen Hurts will be back in as the starter for Philadelphia next week after helping the Eagles break their four-game losing streak with a major victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Hurts will make his second start for the Eagles when they take on Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, coach Doug Pederson said Monday.
The Beauty of Jalen Hurts
Smile broadly, Doug Pederson. Pump your fist and get gleeful, Jalen Hurts. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a gigantic win—Philly’s 24-21 stunner over New Orleans in Hurts’ starting debut—greeted with such . . . caution? It sure wasn’t joy.
Hurts is Philadelphia’s December quarterback, at least, and of course it’s a bummer that Wentz is going through a crisis of confidence right now. But that’s life in the big city. The Eagles had their biggest win of the year Sunday, and it’s okay to be joyous—for once this season, at least.
Hurts is the right man for this time in Philadelphia. He played confidently, with no fear. It was amazing to see Pederson go for it on fourth-and-two at the New Orleans’ 15-yard line early in the second quarter. Hurts threw a perfect back-shoulder pass to Alshon Jeffery (he’s still on the team?) at the left pylon. Touchdown. At the end of the first half, Hurts took the Eagles 75 yards in 55 seconds with one timeout, scrambling for 24 and then 16, weaving through a terrific defense like he was running ‘Bama again and the Saints for a moment were Vanderbilt. Hurts ran for 106, threw for 167, didn’t throw a pick, wasn’t sacked, and turned it over once on a strip-tackle. He was as in command as a first-time starter could be. At the very least, the Eagles learned the kid can take the heat and deliver under pressure.
Hurts has the perfect background for this gig. His coach at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley, told me Sunday night: “I know he’s an NFL rookie . . . but I don’t know that he could’ve experienced a whole lot more to get him ready for this than what he did in college. I mean, he goes into Alabama, starts as a true freshman, part of championship teams, and all of a sudden, he’s not the starter. Comes back in in a championship game and leads them to victory. Transfers to [Oklahoma], where they just had two Heisman trophy winners in a row, knowing he’s only gonna have one year, comes in and has a great year, new system, new teammates. He’s always got supreme confidence in himself and he trusts his preparation. I think part of him is like, ‘Man, if I’ve made it through what I’ve made it through, I trust myself that even in a new situation that I can do it. So no, not surprising to me at all that he would go play the way he did today.”
WHO IS JALEN HURTS
Jalen Alexander Hurts[1] (born August 7, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma and Alabama and was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| High school: | Channelview (Channelview, Texas) |
| College: | Oklahoma Alabama |
| NFL Draft: | 2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 53 |
| Career history | |
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| Roster status: | Active |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Senior season
On January 16, 2019, Hurts announced via social media that he would be transferring to the University of Oklahoma for his final year of eligibility. As a graduate transfer, he was eligible to play for the 2019 season.
In his first game as a Sooner on September 1, 2019, Hurts shattered Oklahoma’s single-game yardage record in a debut (previously held by Baker Mayfield when he put up 396 yards of total offense against Akron in 2015), putting up 508 yards of total offense against Houston. On September 28, in a 55–14 victory over Texas Tech, he had 415 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and one interception to go along with nine carries for 70 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Hurts helped lead Oklahoma to a 7–0 start to the season. The team’s first setback came against Kansas State on October 26. In the 48–41 loss, Hurts passed for 395 yards and a passing touchdown to go along with 19 carries for 96 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Hurts helped lead Oklahoma to a Big 12 Championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff.[25] The Sooners’ season ended with a 63–28 loss to LSU in the 2019 Peach Bowl. Hurts recorded a successful season with the Sooners, recording 3,851 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, and eight interceptions to go along with 1,298 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Joe Burrow.
Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| 2016 | Alabama | 15 | 14 | 240 | 382 | 62.8 | 2,780 | 23 | 9 | 139.1 | 191 | 954 | 5.0 | 13 |
| 2017 | Alabama | 14 | 14 | 154 | 254 | 60.6 | 2,081 | 17 | 1 | 150.7 | 154 | 855 | 5.6 | 8 |
| 2018 | Alabama | 13 | 0 | 51 | 70 | 72.9 | 765 | 8 | 2 | 202.4 | 36 | 186 | 5.2 | 2 |
| 2019 | Oklahoma | 14 | 14 | 237 | 340 | 69.7 | 3,851 | 32 | 8 | 191.2 | 233 | 1,298 | 6.5 | 20 |
| Career | 56 | 42 | 682 | 1047 | 65.1 | 9,477 | 80 | 20 | 162.6 | 614 | 3,274 | 5.33 | 43 | |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
222 lb (101 kg) |
31 3⁄4 in (0.81 m) |
9 3⁄4 in (0.25 m) |
4.59 s | 35.0 in (0.89 m) |
10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) |
Hurts was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round with the 53rd overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. After originally being named as the third string quarterback behind Nate Sudfeld, he gained the backup position at Week 2, mainly so he could be used for quarterback running plays or as a decoy. On December 6, 2020, Hurts came in relief of Carson Wentz, who was benched due to poor play, against the Green Bay Packers. In this Week 12 matchup, Hurts threw his career first passing touchdown to Greg Ward and finished the game with 109 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 30–16 loss. On December 8, 2020, Hurts was named the starter for their Week 14 game against the New Orleans Saints, which the Eagles won 24-21. In the game, Hurts completed 17 of 30 passing attempts for 167 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and a passer rating of 83.7. Hurts also added 106 yards on the ground, totaling 273 all purpose yards.
Hurts’ parents are Pamela and Averion Hurts. Hurts has two siblings: a younger sister, Kynnedy, and an older brother, Averion, named after their father. Jalen’s brother, Averion, was the starting quarterback for Texas Southern University and is now a college football coach at University of Alabama. As of Hurts’ freshman year, one of his parents attended his football game every week, while the other attended Averion’s game.
