He said it after the season. He said it at the NFL Combine.
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He has now said it at the NFL Annual Meetings as well.
Maybe it is time to believe him?
Speaking Monday at the NFL Annual Meetings in West Palm Beach, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman once again voiced his support for Jalen Hurts as the team’s starting quarterback, despite the non-stop rumors that they are looking to upgrade the position.
“I don’t think we have ever wavered from the level of commitment that we have for Jalen. When we say he is our guy and he is our starter and we believe in him and we got to do whatever we can to help him and give him a chance to reach his potential, I don’t think that has changed one bit,” Roseman said. “If anything talking and hearing his plan to improve and the things he wants to do, this guy will explore any option to get better. He will do whatever it takes. So you know you are going to get as much as possible out of him as you can, so it is our job — let’s make sure.”
Of course, no matter what Roseman said, there will be skeptics. The Eagles were reportedly in on trying to trade for both Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson. Some still think they could take a quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Roseman, however, sounds like he is moving forward with the plan of building around Hurts for the 2022 season.
“When you look at our team there are still ways to improve our team and the people around him, and that is on us," Roseman said. “Then you get an opportunity to really judge a quarterback when you see them with as many good players as possible around them, fit into the system that coach has done a great job of, that fits their skillset. I think we are excited about…if you would have asked a year ago and where we are today, I think we are in a much, much better position and excited.”
An issue with building around Hurts? The Eagles have not done much this offseason to do that. The team had interest in trying to acquire Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk and Allen Robinson, but none of them will be playing with the Eagles in 2022.
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The result of striking out on so many receivers has been the perception that nobody wants to come play with Jalen Hurts in the Eagles run-first offense.
Roseman pushed back on that perception, citing the lack of targets in the passing game as the main reason why some receivers have elected not to come to Philadelphia.
“When we look at our skill position guys and DeVonta Smith…Smith had 118 targets. When you look at the players in Coach Sirianni’s offense and really the No. 1 receivers in the league, you are talking about guys getting 150 targets. When you talk about Dallas Goedert, and obviously we had Zach (Ertz), but he had I think 84 targets last year. Guys who are tight ends of his caliber are getting 120 targets a year. Even when you look at Quez (Watkins) he got 60 targets. So we believe those three guys, specifically the first two guys, they are going to require as their skillsets get better-and-better, and as they get more comfortable in the offense, they are going to require more targets. When we look at it, we are kind of saying, can we also satisfy players who are going to try to gobble up targets, when we are trying to satisfy these young players that have a chance to be exceptional players in this league?” Roseman said. “I think for us, we are looking at how do we get these guys the ball more? How do we get them more targets? So where does that leave everyone else after that. And that doesn’t mean we can’t use more weapons, more good players, we are always looking for that, but I think that has been a big offseason focus. Going back, watching those guys and saying, man, when you talk about guys who can really make a difference in the passing game in our offense, we have these guys in our offense who are just taking these steps to be at the level of the guys that maybe people are talking about in this league being really good already.”
The obvious takeaway is that, as of now, the Eagles seem set to run it back on offense. They will count on Hurts, Smith and Goedert to take big steps forward in 2022. More talent could come in, especially in the NFL Draft, but those three players — in addition to Watkins — will decide just how good the Eagles passing attack is in 2022.