What's wrong with Jalen Hurts? Let's break down his interceptions to find the answer
This season’s Jalen Hurts is not playing like 2022 Jalen Hurts.
Last year’s version of the former second round pick was a bonafide MVP candidate. His work through the air, blistering defenses with big throws to AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, answered questions about whether he had the skill to be a franchise quarterback. His work on the ground, already solid, manifested in 760 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.
The Philadelphia Eagles went 14-1 in his starts and bullied their way to an NFC title, falling perhaps one pass interference call away from a Super Bowl win. This year’s Eagles team is 5-1. They’re tied for the best record in the NFL. Hurts has five rushing touchdowns and his offense has gained more yards than all but one other team.
But something’s just a little bit off about Philly, and it starts with Hurts.
oh no Jalen why pic.twitter.com/WpU2eTbtXh
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 15, 2023
A 5-0 start was littered with too-close games against opponents who should have been overmatched from a talent basis alone. The clip above shows Philly unraveling at the worst possible moment in Week 6, a third-and-long interception while protecting a 14-12 lead in the final two minutes on the road.
This hasn’t been an isolated incident. Hurts threw six interceptions in 18 regular season and playoff games last year. He’s already at seven in 2023. He’s the genesis of eight of the Eagles’ nine turnovers this fall. His touchdown rate has dropped by more than 30 percent.
After averaging 0.225 expected points added (EPA) per play in his breakout campaign he’s down to 0.097 this year — still good, but not quite elite. So is this a regression that will prove 2022 wasn’t sustainable? An outlier over a small sample size of six games? A quiet stretch through a nagging injury we haven’t heard much about?
In order to better understand why Hurts isn’t playing up to his potential, I decided to look back on all seven of his interceptions and figure out what went wrong — and just how much he’s to blame for each.