Jalen Hurts’ tenure as the starting quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide ended unceremoniously.
In the first half of the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, he completed only three passes for 21 yards.
His poor performance prompted head coach Nick Saban to replace him with Tua Tagovailoa.
The Hawaiian threw for three touchdown passes to lead Alabama over the Georgia Bulldogs, 26-23.
The tables turned since that game because Tagovailoa became the starter during Hurts’ junior season.
The Texas native did play in their opening game against Louisville and had 70 yards.
However, Hurts did not start a game again in 2018.
Bruh 😂 @JalenHurts pic.twitter.com/62wMYDD0f9
— Mac Hereford (@Mac_Hereford) August 25, 2021
He was significant, though, in the Crimson Tide’s victory in that year’s SEC Championship against Georgia.
But after finishing his college degree and seeing his playing time diminish, Hurts got out of Tuscaloosa and went to Norman.
He played out his final year of college football eligibility with the University of Oklahoma wherein he established the school’s single-game passing yards record of 508 versus Houston.
It looked like he was playing with a chip on his shoulder after an abrupt end to his Alabama stint.
Hurts led the Sooners to the Big 12 Championship and made it to the College Football Playoff.
They did fall to LSU, but he had an accomplished year with 3,851 yards and 32 passing touchdowns.
He was far from being one-dimensional for he had 1,298 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground as well.
Being a dual-threat made him an intriguing prospect for NFL teams.
No wonder the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft despite signing Carson Wentz to a massive contract extension.
Hurts’ Career Is Soaring
For the Eagles, Hurts was just too good to neglect.
It turned out that they made the right decision after Wentz had a disappointing 2020 season.
The rookie quarterback made them competitive with his accurate throws and nimble feet that left defenders flustered.
Unfortunately, the Eagles did not make the playoffs in his first NFL season.
Controversy even surrounded Doug Pederson’s decision of taking him out in their Week 17 game against the Washington Football Team.
Though it was a no-bearing game, several Eagles players complained when Nate Sudfeld replaced Hurts.
Mac Jones and Jalen Hurts share the field tonight.
That 2018 Alabama QB room is forever legendary. pic.twitter.com/BgiS3RtgzP
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) August 19, 2021
Leaving him on the field would have given him more confidence and momentum coming into his sophomore year.
But the drama is over and Pederson was fired as head coach.
Under Nick Sirianni, Hurts is the team’s undisputed starter in front of Joe Flacco and Nick Mullens.
Tagovailoa is also the Miami Dolphins’ starter after Ryan Fitzpatrick got traded to Washington.
There were issues regarding Tua’s ability to throw deep and to thread through tight windows.
As for Hurts, he would like to show Saban that benching him was the wrong decision.
He will have the chip on his shoulder to always outperform Tagovailoa even if he doesn’t express that sentiment.
He’s still carrying that stigma of being unwanted and thus wants to prove his former head coach wrong.
It’s sad that the Dolphins and the Eagles will not face each other unless they reach the Super Bowl.
But with each passing week, Hurts will keep an eye on Tagovailoa’s box score and perform better than his former teammate.
When that happens, he can breathe easier because he will have proven Saban wrong again.
