Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie wants Jalen Hurts to be Philadelphia’s full-back defender in 2021, according to a report by Chris Mortensen (via @WordOnTheBirds) The NFL insider said the following during a recent appearance on ESPN:
MORTENSEN: “Yes, Jalen Hurts is the guy. Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Eagles, basically sent the message to his personnel department and Howie Roseman that he wants to do everything he can to help Jalen Hurts succeed and NOT bring someone to compete for the job. Now, they have a new technician in Nick Sirianni, he understands what the owner wants, the owner gets it. And I must remind people about this: last year, the owner was in favor of Jalen Hurts’ sketch. This created a ripple effect. But one thing that happened to the Eagles, yells at me, why Ja’Marr Chase should be at stake with that choice, is that they didn’t stay true to his draft. And their personnel department has a lot of disciples from the Ozzie Newsome in Baltimore. Ozzie always stays true to the draft board. Somehow, they left the recruiting board and, at number 21, caught Jalen Reagor, the wide receiver, instead of Justin Jefferson, who had a top note on the Eagles’ board. How do you explain it? We don’t have enough time. But Jalen Hurts is the defender of this year, they do not want to bring competition to him. “
There are several things to unpack here.
- To begin with, we must look at how this intelligence differs from what Mortensen and Adam Schefter previously published in a joint report after Carson Wentz was traded last month. They said that “the eagles are likely to turn to Jalen Hurts, although they also intend to bring competition to him. The Eagles’ initial work is not expected to automatically go to Hurts. ”Now Mortensen is saying the opposite: Hurts is the starting point and there can be no competition. Why the discrepancy? Well, Mort notes that not everyone is necessarily on the same page:
I wouldn’t say that the Eagles have internal unanimity over the Hurts as QB1, but sources say the boss, Jeffrey Lurie, instructed his group to prioritize the Hurts’ success in 2021, rather than creating real competition.
– Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 8, 2021
- It is not very comforting to see the owner being so involved in personnel decisions. Ideally, you want an owner who hires a good general and technical manager and trusts them to decide who will be the starting quarterback. It doesn’t look like this is the configuration here.
- The feeling here is that Machuca HE MUST be the Eagles’ full-back this year. What does the organization really have to gain by paying and playing a dead-end veteran (eg Marcus Mariota, Jacoby Brissett, Tyrod Taylor) instead of him?
- The #smokescreen angle should be considered for this report. If the Eagles really want to climb a quarterback, they don’t want everyone to know about it. Being in that position would either ruin your advantage for a possible switch or motivate teams to stay ahead of sixth overall.
- Interesting to see the note about Jefferson being taller than Reagor on the Eagles recruiting board last year brought here. This is not the first time we have heard this. Jeff McLane previously reported that the scouts had taller Jefferson, but the coaching staff preferred Reagor. But … it’s not like the coaches have the final say on that decision.
- I was a little lost at first about why the Reagor / Jefferson thing came about, but Mort seems to be suggesting that the Eagles will choose Chase at No. 6 (if he is there) and will not force a choice of a quarterback because they are going to get back to trusting your board and also trying to build around Hurts. In fact, the Eagles shouldn’t enter the draft with the mentality they need to recruit a passer at number 6, no matter what. It is likely that at least three defenders leave the board before being chosen, as long as there is no exchange.