Jalen Hurts was named MVP in Super Bowl LIX just five months ago, but insiders believe he only just scrapes into the NFL’s top 10 quarterbacks.
Ahead of the 2025 season, league executives, coaches and scouts ranked the best signal-callers in football, and the Philadelphia Eagles star has been seriously disrespected.
Hurts comes in at ninth on the list, published by ESPN, with the likes of Justin Herbert (seventh), Matthew Stafford (sixth) and Jayden Daniels (fifth) ranked ahead of him.
Patrick Mahomes tops the list, with 2024 league MVP Josh Allen in second, and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in third.
There is little to argue with the top three, but to have last year’s Super Bowl winning signal-caller as low as ninth will certainly raise some eyebrows.
ESPN’s ranking reads: “The question isn’t whether Hurts belongs in the top 10 — he undoubtedly does.
“It’s whether he has the ability from the pocket to vault into the top five eventually, as his Super Bowl pedigree would suggest he could.
“More than a few voters see shades of a Russell Wilson career arc — Hurts has many traits that contribute to winning at a high level but needs a steady running game around him and wouldn’t necessarily thrive in a pass-heavy system.”
While ESPN also noted that Hurts is ‘one of the game’s most accurate passers’, their analysis pointed out that Hurts struggled taking care of the ball in 2023 when he was asked to be a high-volume thrower.
One AFC executive also suggested that the 26-year-old could climb the rankings if he ‘cuts out the turnovers’ in 2025.
Two-time Super Bowl champion turned NFL analyst Damien Woody, though, believes the list is still ‘disrespectful’ to Hurts.
“Super Bowl MVP at No. 9, and you’ve got Justin Herbert at seven,” the former guard said on First Take.
“I’ve always said about Justin Herbert, if you build a quarterback in a lab it would be Justin Herbert. He’s that type of guy. He has everything that you want. He has the size, the arm, movement, skills. He has all of that.
“But what Jalen Hurts has is moments. When you need plays to be made, Jalen Hurts makes those plays.
“It’s not always going to be pretty, but this is the same Jalen Hurts who outplayed Patrick Mahomes in two Super Bowls… for me, it’s disrespectful having Jalen Hurts at No. 9.”
Woody is far from the only person who has pushed back at the narrative surrounding Hurts heading into 2025.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni recently offered a blunt response to the idea that his QB was ‘along for the ride’ during the team’s Super Bowl run.
After a 2-2 start to the season, Philly shifted their offensive approach to lean more on Saquon Barkley‘s running game, instead of the passing attack.
The Eagles went 12-1 down the stretch and their new running back, who arrived from the New York Giants last March, finished with a career-high 2,005 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns and was named Offensive Player of the Year.
Hurts, meanwhile, finished the 2024 season racking up a career-low in passing yards (2,903) since becoming the full-time starter in 2021.
Still, he delivered when it mattered most, with three touchdowns against the punchless Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX to win MVP honors.
“I think that’s bull****, ” Sirianni said of the narrative surrounding his QB.
“I mean, he plays the most important position in all of sports. And it’s the most ultimate team game there is.
“What I admire about him is his selflessness of doing anything we need to do to win.”
Sirianni went on to suggest that while the Eagles have a strong offensive line and solid offensive weapons to throw to, football is a team sport and Hurts more than plays his part.
“One of the reasons I love football so much is that it takes everybody to accomplish your goals,” he added.
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“You can go ahead and start naming great quarterbacks, I’ll tell you their great receivers and their great defenses.
“You know, whether it’s (Tom) Brady with (Rob) Gronkowski or Brady’s defenses early on, Mahomes with (Travis) Kelce, Steve Young with Jerry Rice, the list goes on and on and on.
“I just think sometimes that’s good debate, I guess. I wouldn’t even say it’s good debate, but it’s debate that people are able to have. But yeah, I guess, my first initial thing was it’s bull****.”
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