Jalen Hurts has gotten a lot less playing time this season than he did in 2017, which means he has had fewer opportunities to showcase himself to NFL teams. Despite that, Nick Saban still believes the junior is managing to boost his stock.
On his weekly radio show on Tide 102.9 FM Thursday, Saban spoke about Hurts’ decision to not transfer after Tua Tagovailoa took over the starting job. He spoke highly of Hurts and the strides he has made under new quarterbacks coach Dan Enos.
“To me, Jalen has made a lot of improvement as a quarterback this year even though he’s not the starter because he’s got a really good coach, we’ve a really good offensive system, and the very thing that he needed to improve on, he has improved on dramatically even though he’s not the starter,” Saban said, as transcribed by Mike Zenitz of AL.com. “That’s going to have a lot of value for him in his future, and I think a lot of people see that.”
That may be overly optimistic. Hurts has made the most of his opportunities this year with five touchdown passes compared to just one interception, but he has had fewer than 10 pass attempts in four of five games. In a passing NFL, teams are going to want as much tape as possible showcasing a quarterback’s accuracy, arm strength, decision-making, etc. in order to evaluate him.
Now that it is official that Hurts cannot take a redshirt year with Alabama, it seems likely that he will be a graduate transfer after the season. He has a better chance of boosting his draft stock elsewhere where he won’t have to play behind Tagovailoa. It goes without saying that Saban’s opinion on the topic is a bit biased.
