Terrell Owens has weighed in on Cam Newton’s controversial take on Jalen Hurts not being a Top 10 quarterback in the NFL.
The former NFL MVP took to his own podcast, 4th and 1 with Cam Newton, to rank his top 10 NFL quarterbacks, with him ranking Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen number one, and Lamar Jackson second. Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes rounded out the top three.
However, there was no room for Super Bowl LIX winning quarterback and MVP Hurts inside his personal top 10 list, with unproven sophomore Jayden Daniels, C.J. Stroud and Justin Herbert all ranked ahead of him.
“It’s hard for me to grade Jalen Hurts with the talent that he has around him,” said Newton.
“Jalen Hurts is a great quarterback, but if we’re talking about what they bring to the table, holistically, it’s hard to judge what Jalen Hurts can do.
“When you’re throwing to a guy like AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, you have a tight end skill set, you have a dominant defense, the best running back in the game. Download Madden and see how many stars are on the offensive side of Philly.”
Newton isn’t the only one who has disrespected Hurts, with ESPN’s quarterback poll ranking the Eagles’ signal caller as the ninth-best quarterback in the league.
Since entering the league in 2020, Hurts has suited up for the Eagles 77 times and led Philadelphia to two Super Bowl appearances.
He has also thrown for 14,667 total passing yards, and has 85 touchdowns to 39 interceptions.
The 26-year-old has also recorded 3,133 yards on the ground, and scored 55 rushing touchdowns, most of which came from the ‘Tush Push’ play, which is on the brink of a ban from the NFL.
With numbers like that, it comes as no surprise that Newton’s comments on Hurts sparked controversy, with Hall of Fame wide-receiver and former Eagles star Terrell Owens unable to refrain from hitting out at the former Carolina Panthers star.
“You would be judging him if he had all of that and wasn’t playing well,” Owens commented on Instagram.
“This is a Skip Bayless type of statement with dreads!!! Don’t be mad at Jalen because he’s making great decisions, maybe had you made the decision to jump on that ball?! Just maybe?!
“Y’all will say anything to go viral. This isn’t it @cam!!”
Eagles fans loved T.O.’s defense of Hurts.
“Terrell Owens is quickly becoming one of my favorite former Eagles,” posted one fan on social media.
“Agree with TO 100%,” added another.
“Facts! TO ain’t having it!!” a third added.
Owens, five-time first-team All-Pro – who had 156 career touchdowns in his 15-year NFL career – wasn’t the only one to condemn Newton’s comments.
Hall of Famers Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson also chimed in with their two cents on the situation, arguing that Hurts has done exactly what head coach Nick Sirianni and then-offensive co-ordinator Kellen Moore asked of him.
“It’s touchy. But as a quarterback, you have to respect what Cam is saying. As a receiver, I understand Jalen’s side. I understand what Nick Sirianni asks from Jalen Hurts,” Johnson said on an episode of Nightcap.
“They are a team where it’s not aesthetically pleasing from an offensive standpoint of throwing the ball two millions times a game. I get that. Why do you think AJ Brown was upset some games?…”
“Jalen Hurts does exactly what the Philadelphia Eagles ask of him when it comes to running that offense.
“And he does it to perfection, which is why they have them big a**, god**** rings. That’s it. It’s simple.”
Sharpe completely agreed with his co-host and makes the point that Hall of Fame quarterbacks had help around them, like Hurts has Saquon Barkley, and yet, they have never had that held against them.”
“I look at it like what is required of me to win,” Sharpe added.
“I’m not going to punish this guy [Hurts] because he’s throwing to great receivers… Terry Bradshaw threw to great receivers, Joe Montana threw to great receivers.
“There are a lot of great quarterbacks that are in the Hall of Fame that threw to great receivers so I’m not going to hold that against him. Troy Aikman’s in the Hall of Fame and he had the all-time leading rusher in his backfield…
“At the end of the day, you do what is asked and what is required of you in order to win the game.”
Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our NFL Facebook page, subscribe to our talkSPORT End Zone YouTube channel for all the offseason news, interviews and more.