Love Hurts

          Green Bay’s selection of Jordan Love was clearly the early surprise package of this year draft class, but for me, shortly behind this, the New England Patriots electing to snub Love was almost as staggering. As just about everyone on the planet is aware, Tom Brady parted ways with the Patriots last month. I won’t get into this as I’m sure we’re all exhausting from hearing about the move but nonetheless, New England need a quarterback. Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham are on the roster, but Hoyer is a thirty-four-year-old journeyman and Stidham, drafted last year, failed to meet high expectations in college and will take a long time to develop. Steady and static, pocket passing quarterbacks like Tom Brady are becoming a rarity in the league and Love has the intangibles needed to succeed in the transitioning league. Brady’s reluctancy to move in the pocket and give himself valuable seconds ultimately cost the Patriots down the stretch. Along with a lack of receivers too of course. New England traded out of the first round, swapping picks with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Pats will be on the clock fifth tonight barring anymore drama, with Love off the board and few quarterbacks of starting potential available, who knows what direction the six-time Super Bowl winners go. Jalen Hurts is generally regarded as the next best QB out there.
            Hurts has the most positive attitude and winning mentality we may see in the draft this year. When Coach Nick Saban benched Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa in the 2018 National Championship against Georgia, Jalen didn't complain. The following season when Tua rolled out for the Tide in their season opener, again, Hurts kept his composure. Instead of throwing his toys out the pram and isolating himself from his fellow quarterback, Jalen took this 'opportunity' to share the experience with Tua. Proverbs 27:17: 'Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens the face of his neighbour'. Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa united to strengthen each others game and when the time came, Jalen was ready. Eleven months after Tua replaced Jalen in a losing position to guide Alabama to the title, Jalen Hurts reciprocated. Tua went down in the conference championship game with Alabama trailing to Georgia. Jalen Hurts was ready to show what he was still capable of and rallied Alabama to a late comeback. Even the reserved Nick Saban had a lump in his throat when praising the work rate of Jalen and the bond he held with Tua. Whilst Jalen remained humble and respective of Alabama's decision to go on with Tua, he had to think about his future and transferred to the University of Oklahoma. 

        Jalen has pieces to his game that could be moulded into a franchise QB, he won’t be ready to start from the off, but this could be a move in the mind of Bill Belichick and co looking ahead to the future. In his first year as a starter with Alabama, Hurts led his side to the National Championship game and even received personal accolades in the shape of the SEC Freshman of the Year award. Hurts burned defences with his running ability his first year, but it wasn’t really until Tua Tagovailoa intervened in his career that we began to see all the qualities. Question marks surrounded Jalen’s arm strength and accuracy when he was running through defences more than anything else. Moving to Oklahoma for his senior year gave Jalen Hurts the opportunity to flaunt his skill set before his college career drew to an end and he set his sights on the pros. Jalen still scrambled a lot when needed or whenever the chance arose but in the famous air-raid offence of Lincoln Riley, Hurts had to start getting friendly with releasing the ball to succeed in Norman, Oklahoma. With fantastic receivers, such as the standout CeeDee Lamb, Hurts got used to slinging the pigskin. Hurts threw a good deep ball, got into the habit of letting go of the ball early to offload slant passes and found comfort in sideline throws. The Sooners were a joy to watch and the development of Jalen Hurts did not go unnoticed. However, some NFL teams might have their doubts surrounding Hurts as Oklahoma play in a very offensively superior conference, notorious for underwhelming defences. Therefore all those deep balls to open receivers, slants to teammates who would then put the burners on and do much of the work themselves, take away some of the credit from the man under centre.

          As an avid follower of college football, I watched Jalen Hurts’ career alter from a thrilling freshman to a leader of men at Oklahoma. Jalen is an instantly loveable character but my concern now is that this talented individual may find himself fending off not one but two quarterbacks if his draft stock plummets too far. Some scouts and journalists struggled to imagine Jalen Hurts as a starting quarterback in the league and have predicted a Taysom Hill like role. Passing when asked, running when told, even catching passes when needed. Should any other organisations look at Hurts in this manner I fear he could be picked up by teams already undergoing quarterback uncertainty and could be used as a utility player. The Raiders, Redskins, Colts and Bears will all likely see a QB dual this offseason, if any of these sides roll the dice on Jalen, it could be a long way to the top. 

       Unlike college football, Jalen won't have a wide range of potential landing spots if he doesn't find himself on the field enough. Trade requests can be made but if he is unproven in the league it will be even tougher for him to convince GM's, coaches and the like to take a chance on him. Where-ever Jalen Hurts lands tonight he will have to fight for his spot, not for the first time, but he's a winner, a competitor and most importantly a role model for the younger generations. Prove them wrong Jalen.