Player Report Card: Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts Stats: 2081 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 855 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdowns
Regular Season Passing Grade: A-
Personally, I thought Jalen Hurts improved a lot last year in the passing game. I liked that Jalen Hurts through only 1 interception last season. I noticed that throughout the season, Hurts would rather throw the football to the sidelines when he couldn’t run and nobody was open instead of just throwing the ball to someone who wasn’t open and risk an interception. However, Hurts still has room for improvement especially when throwing the ball deep. Also, Alabama’s offensive line struggled to protect Hurts which is another reason why he threw the ball away so many times and why his completion percentage isn’t remarkable.
Regular Season Rushing Grade: A+
No QB runs better than Jalen Hurts. Not even Cam Newton can do what Hurts does on his feet. Most quarterbacks who run a lot get injured. Not Jalen Hurts. Hurts can run 50 yards without being touched. Not only that, he can squat 600-pounds! So when Jalen gets tackled, there’s a reason why he never gets hurt. He’s the strongest quarterback ever. Hurts has never missed a game with the Tide. Hurts only ran for 855 yards and 8 touchdowns, but that was because when ever Alabama had a big lead they put in Tua Tagovailoa to give him some playing time. And of course, we all know that Jalen Hurts was pulled in the championship game at halftime because Alabama was losing 13-0 and Tua Tagovailoa came in and won the game in overtime 26-23. Now, I’m not going to take anything away from Tua, he played astonishing well and came back from being down by 13 points against a very good defense. However, I would like to point out some things in favor of Jalen Hurts.
1. Alabama’s offensive line was notably horrible in the first half.
2. Calvin Ridley missed a ball he could have caught in the 1st quarter to put Alabama up 7-0 (assuming the kicker would make the extra point).
3. Andy Pappanastos missed a 40-yard field later in that drive which could have put Alabama up 3-0.
4. Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t the only one put in after halftime. Alabama also put in Najee Harris and Henry Ruggs III. Tua, Najee, and Henry were all freshmen. Devonta Smith, also a freshman who didn’t get much playing time in the first half, caught the game winning touchdown pass in overtime.
Overall Grade: A
That’s the overall grade a player like Jalen Hurts deserves. Not all this fake news claiming he can’t throw. Jalen Hurts is one of the greatest players ever in college football, he’s lead Alabama to back-to-back championships in his first 2 years and is a great leader, teammate, and person, and it’s that simple.
If you’ve read any of my other articles on Alabama Crimson Tide Football, I said Alabama Crimson Tide Football because I’ve also written on their basketball team and their baseball team, you know I’m in favor of Alabama keeping both QBs and it appears that a very famous sports player agrees with me. This guy won the Heisman Trophy as the quarterback for the Florida Gators, he currently is in the Double-A with the Binghampton Rumbleponies. Who else but TIM TEBOW?
Here’s what Tim Tebow said. “Get both of them on the field, I’d put Jalen as the quarterback, as halfback, as wildcat back, as H-back. I’d move him around. He can be so versatile. He can turn it into a zone read. He can turn into a receiver. He can do so many things. But I also want to give Jalen a lot of credit because he hasn’t pouted this off-season. he’s gone to work. He’s reached out to so many people and tried to seek advice.
“I think that if he stays at Alabama he’s I think he’s going to be a huge asset to that Alabama team, and I think there’s a way to have these two players on the field at the same time.”
A lot of people have already declared that Tua Tagovailoa is Alabama’s starting QB and that Jalen Hurts will transfer. However, the only person whose opinion actually matters to me on football, basketball, mainly any sport, is mine and I don’t think that Tua Tagovailoa is going to be the only starter. There will be 2 QBs.
Let’s move on to my analysis on Gary Danielson’s statement that “he (Hurts) doesn’t really know how to play quarterback”.
Gary Danielson also said that “He knows how to throw. He knows how to be a good leader. He has great toughness. He really doesn’t understand how to distribute the ball and see the cracks in the defense before they appear. He’s pretty good at delivering the ball to open guys. He has a good deep arm. He’s courageous. He’s a great leader, but there are subtleties of playing quarterback that are unteachable. They come pretty easy to Drew Brees or Matt Staford or even Tua Tagovailoa. (Tagovailoa) Sees the spaces and opportunities out there a lot of guys don’t see, even professional guys.”
He said more, but frankly I don’t feel like typing the rest. You get the idea anyway. An analyst who works for CBS, which probably means he gets paid good money for doing basically nothing, just said that Jalen Hurts, who led Alabama to back-to-back CFP Championship appearances in his first 2 years, can’t play quarterback, and that Drew Brees, who has only led his team (the Saints) to 1 championship (which they won) in his long career (not to mention that Super Bowl was back in 2009), can play quarterback. Also, don’t forget that Gary said that Matt Staford, who hasn’t been to a college championship or a Super Bowl, can play QB.
I like to judge quarterbacks by how many championships they have won or even been to, not how many times they have passed for 500-yards in a single game or how many passing yards they get per season. I know in today’s age of the media that the way I judge quarterbacks is totally unreasonable, but it’s the way I am.
Update: Jalen Hurts told Nick Saban that he will be at Alabama for the season opener against Louisville. Coach Saban also said “And if both guys can play a role and help us win, why wouldn’t we utilize both guys’ talent?”.
