The Philadelphia Eagles took a huge step last season.
Jalen Hurts had a few new weapons to play with and became one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He led the Birds to a Super Bowl appearance and finished second in MVP voting.
While Hurts was obviously important to the Eagles, offseason acquisition A.J. Brown helped unlock the young quarterback’s potential and the offense as a whole.
James Koh of the Audacy Original Podcast “Reception Perception” explained why he thinks Brown was the team’s MVP last season after transforming the Eagles offense.
“I thought that last year he was more transformative to the Philadelphia Eagles, was AJ Brown, than the development of Jalen Hurts,” Koh said (9:35 in player above). “I’m not saying he was more important to the Eagles than Jalen Hurts, but I think if you look at what the Eagles were doing in 2021 vs. what they did – and they were just gangbusters – in 2022, how did they make that gigantic colossal leap? I think it’s mostly because of A.J. Brown.”
Hurts led the Eagles to an 8-7 record in his 15 starts in 2021. He threw for 16 touchdowns with nine interceptions as DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Quez Watkins led the team in receptions.
In 2022, the Birds were 14-1 in Hurts’ regular-season starts as the quarterback exploded for over 3,700 yards with 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also ran for 13 touchdowns, three more than his 2021 total.
One key difference is the 88 catches that Brown brought to the offense, which also opened up the field for Smith. Smith once again led the Eagles in receptions with 95, up from 64 in his rookie season.
“I love Jalen Hurts but A.J. Brown unlocked the playbook. It unlocked what Jalen Hurts could do in terms of being able to throw every single route to every single part of the field,” Koh continued. “It opened up the field for DeVonta Smith. You could do different things now with both of those receivers moving all over the formation, really put stress on the secondary on the other side.”
Adding a weapon like Brown as the Eagles did at the 2022 NFL Draft can transform an offense, and Swole Batman did just that for the Birds.
“I thought that A.J. Brown was more transformative to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 than the development of Jalen Hurts,” Koh reiterated.
“By the way, those two things go together, but without A.J. Brown, you don’t see Jalen Hurts make that leap, in my opinion. I just don’t think that happens. That’s why I think the team MVP may have been A.J. Brown last year.”
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