Eagles’ top stars’ unprecedented improvement.
The thing about Jalen Hurts is that he always had the ability to throw the ball deep, he always ran faster than almost anyone, and he always made big plays. Even in a late-season backup role in 2020 after Carson Wentz was benched by Doug Pederson, Hurts still led the NFL in YPC, had an average of 5.6 YPC per rushing attempt, and had the third highest 30-yard completion rate in the NFL through the last four weeks, behind only Tom Brady and DeShaun Watson.
The biggest question early in Hurts’ career was whether he had the ability to be accurate enough to succeed in a league where the average quarterback completes 65 percent.
Let’s get one thing straight: Hurts is now the most accurate Eagles quarterback in team history. A few weeks ago, he passed Nick Foles for the lead with 63.8 percent. Foles was second with 62.9 percent and Carson Wentz was third with 62.7 percent.
In 2020, he completed 52.0% of passes, last of 44 QBs (minimum 100 attempts), in 2021, he completed 61.3% of passes, ranking 29th of 37 QBs, in 2022, he completed 66.5% of passes, placing him 12th of 39 QBs, and in 2023, he completed 68.9% of the passes, placing him 6th of 30 QBs. In NFL history, only six QBs have completed 52% or less of their passes in their first year as a starter and had a 65% or higher completion rate one season later. In the NFL history of QBs who have completed 65% or more in their first three seasons, it took 15 years for a QB to do so. In his fourth year, Hurts will have the two earliest seasons of 65% or better completion in NFL history. Hurts has gone over 73% in four games this year, which is the most in the history of the Eagles with eight games remaining in the regular season.
In the last three weeks leading up to the bye, he threw for 74.2 percent against the Dolphins; 76.3 percent against Washington; and 73.9 against the Cowboys. He is the first Eagles quarterback to throw for more than 70 percent in three consecutive games, and only the eighth in NFL history to do so in three consecutive games with multiple touchdowns and 200+ yards.
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, the best in franchise history, has 10 career games over 70 percent in 142 starts, while Hurts has nine over 43 starts.
Hurts is close to the franchise record of 68.9 percent. Wentz, a one-time teammate of Hurts’, threw for 69.6 percent before getting hurt in 2018 and is currently at 68.8 percent.
The Eagles have three receivers who have caught more than 70 percent of their passes this year: A. J. Brown, DeShone Kizer, and rookie Dallas Goedert. Brown has caught 147 of 204 of his passes this year.
But more importantly, Hurts is throwing the ball where he wants to be more than a third of the time. “Accuracy isn’t just about where you put the ball, it’s about where you go with the ball,” said Sirianni. “If you throw an accurate ball and don’t go to the right spot, that’s an incompletion, and if you don’t get the ball to the right spot in time, you’re looking at a tipped ball or sack. So I think it’s a matter of him getting comfortable with the plays he’s running and liking and knowing where to put the ball accurately and getting there in time and doing it with good fundamentals. When he’s completing 65 percent of his throws, the Eagles go 19-3 with a 2021 loss to the Chiefs and last year’s loss to Washington in the Super Bowl.”
Maybe to another Super Bowl, maybe to an MVP. Hurts’ ability to play at a high level when his running isn’t working is one of the best things we’ve ever seen from him.
Three years ago, he was the NFL’s least accurate quarterback. Now, over the past two seasons, he’s the sixth most accurate quarterback in the league. And everything he’s done in his career suggests he’s only going to get better.
