Plenty of people have compared the Philadelphia Eagles’ potential usage of second-round pick Jalen Hurts to what the New Orleans Saints have done with Taysom Hill. Hurts’ college coach isn’t buying that.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said that it “irks” him that people compare Hurts to Hill, and thinks those making the comparison haven’t studied Hurts closely enough.
“Yeah, I think a little bit of those opinions are — I think, one, people haven’t really studied Jalen, his production, really watched the tape,” Riley told NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano, via Garrett Stepien of 247 Sports. “And when you see that, you’re going to see a guy that had one of the most efficient passing seasons in the history of college football this year.
“So you’re right. Taysom is a great player. I think there are similarities in that these guys can do a lot of things. But nothing against Taysom Hill — again, I’d love to have him on any football team that you’d ever have — but I do believe that Philadelphia and a lot of other teams that were interested in Jalen are looking at him purely as a quarterback.”
It’s true that the Eagles drafted Hurts as a quarterback. It’s also true that they have a fairly young franchise quarterback already, albeit one with some injury concerns. If Hurts is purely a quarterback, he probably won’t play much, and his versatility makes him valuable. That’s why some have suggested a wide array of potential roles for Hurts, and that’s why the Hill comparisons have popped up repeatedly.
