Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts missed the ultimate two video games of the common season because of a concussion suffered in Week 16, however the 26-year-old QB cleared concussion protocol on Friday, clearing the way in which for him to get the beginning in Philly’s Wild Card Spherical matchup with the Inexperienced Bay Packers. It ought to go with out saying that Hurts’ availability is essential to Philadelphia’s postseason hopes, and that is not simply because counting on both Kenny Pickett or Tanner McKee in a excessive stakes Playoff recreation is a recipe for an early exit.
There aren’t many quarterbacks within the NFL who present as a lot to their staff’s offensive assault as Hurts does. Not solely is the Fifth-year sign caller an enhancing passer — 68.7% completion and a 103.7 passer ranking have been profession highs for Hurts — however he is additionally one of many league’s best weapons within the run recreation. Not solely is Hurts the important thing to Philly’s borderline unstoppable Tush Push, he is additionally confirmed to be efficient in each designed quarterback runs and as a scrambler when passing performs break down.
Nonetheless, as a result of Jalen Hurts is getting back from a concussion, there’s some skepticism that the Eagles will ask as a lot of him within the run recreation as they historically have, and one outstanding NFL analyst believes that if Hurts is not given a full workload throughout the Playoffs, the Eagles Tremendous Bowl likelihood is pretty much as good as Aaron Rodgers’ possibilities of returning to the New York Jets if mentioned analyst turns into the staff’s subsequent head coach.
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“It is a staff that’s constructed to go the space. That is most likely probably the most gifted staff within the NFC, and possibly the complete league,” Rex Ryan mentioned. “However to me, the one method they’re gonna win is that quarterback run recreation, as a result of they don’t seem to be adequate to take a seat again and beat you with Jalen Hurts from the pocket.”
Respectfully, this is not a completely correct evaluation of Hurts’ skillset or the Eagles method. Not solely is Hurts one of many league’s most correct passers — his 79.1% on-target proportion was Sixth-best within the league — however with Saquon Barkley within the image, the Eagles can afford to rely much less on Hurts within the run recreation than they’ve in recent times. Living proof: of their 34-29 win over the Packers in Week 1, Hurts rushed for simply 33 yards on 13 carries whereas Barkley carried 24 occasions for 109 yards and two scores.
With that mentioned, having Hurts at one thing near one hundred pc, and having the ability to make the most of his legs with out having an excessive amount of of a fear would definitely open up the playbook in a method that the Eagles would profit from on Sunday afternoon and past.