Roob's Eagles Observations: Why Jalen Hurts Will Be Fine In Another New Offense

Roob's Eagles Observations: Why Jalen Hurts will be fine in another new offense originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Why Jalen Hurts will be fine in another new offense, expectations for Saquon Barkley if the offensive line can stay healthy and an Eagle who got benched multiple times before making a Pro Bowl in his seventh season.

As training camp inches closer, we’re all over the map in this week’s Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Offseason Observations.

WHY JALEN HURTS WILL BE FINE IN A NEW OFFENSE: How will Jalen Hurts manage in a new offense? Here’s a hint. In 2021, after spending his rookie year playing in Doug Pederson’s offense, he found himself playing in a new offense designed by Nick Sirianni with Shane Steichen replacing Sirianni halfway through the season as play caller. All he did in his first year as a starter was become the youngest quarterback ever to take the Eagles to the playoffs and the 2^nd-youngest 2^nd-round pick ever to reach the postseason, record a combined 26 touchdowns and rank 6^th in the NFL with 11.9 yards per completion. Steichen left to become Colts head coach after the 2022 Super Bowl season, so in 2023 Hurts once again found himself in a new offense, this one run by Brian Johnson. All Hurts did in Year 1 of another new offense was throw for a personal-best 3,858 yards, rush for an quarterback-record 15 touchdowns, complete 65 percent of his passes, lead the Eagles to the playoffs again and make his second straight Pro Bowl. Then came 2024 and another new offense under Kellen Moore. All Hurts did that year was go 12-3, complete 69 percent of his passes, record a career-high 103.7 passer rating and then go on a tear in the postseason, with 71 percent accuracy, 10 total touchdowns, a 108.6 passer rating and Super Bowl MVP honors. Moore was off to New Orleans after that, so Hurts found himself playing under the over-matched Kevin Patullo, his fifth new offense in six NFL seasons. But he still played well, going 11-5, leading the Eagles to their second straight NFC East title and fifth straight playoff berth, throwing 25 TDs to just six INTs, rushing for eight more TDs and going to his third Pro Bowl. So when people question whether Hurts will be able to handle another new offense this year, I’m not sure why that’s even a question. He’s done it almost every year of his career with a ton of success. Andy Reid once told me a quarterback doesn’t max out until he’s been in the same offense for five years. The one time Hurts had two years in the same scheme he had his best season and took the Eagles to the Super Bowl. In seasons under a new offensive coordinator, he’s 42-21. Look at the body of work. He knows how to do this. He’s got this. He’s going to be fine.

WHAT A HEALTHY O-LINE MEANS FOR SAQUON: If Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens and Lane Johnson can all stay healthy and assuming Tyler Steen and Jordan Mailata can as well, there’s no reason Saquon Barkley can’t have another big season. Maybe not 2024 big but big. There’s no question in my mind that Barkley’s struggles at times last year were directly linked to the diminished play up front, mainly from Dickerson’s and Jurgens’ injuries. They just weren’t anywhere close to being the players they were in 2024. And when Johnson misses eight games, that only makes it all worse. It’s actually remarkable that Barkley still ran for 1,140 yards and seven touchdowns and over the last 10 games of the season averaged 4.6 yards per carry. He’s still fast, he’s still powerful, he’s still elusive, he’s still a nightmare matchup for defenses … when he has somewhere to run. When he doesn’t, he just doesn’t have a chance. I think Sean Mannion will help Barkley’s fortunes as well. Another 2,000-yard season? Doubt it. But in this offense with a healthy o-line? No reason Barkley can’t have a 1,500-yard season.

ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS: Tariq Woolen has somewhere around a zero percent chance of being here beyond 2026. Because if he plays well, he’s going to be one of the top free agent cornerbacks on the market, and with Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell also needing new contracts at some point the money just won’t be there to sign Woolen. Some 20 corners are making at least $17 million per year and Howie Roseman isn’t about to open up the checkbook for three corners. That’s just not how he does business. He has his own personal salary cap for each position and DeJean and Mitchell deserve what they’re going to get. And if Woolen doesn’t play well, the Eagles aren’t going to want to sign him anyway. Maybe there’s a middle ground where he plays OK, his value after 2025 is modest and the Eagles want to keep him and can afford him. But there’s a very small window for that. It’s just about a lock that Woolen is a one-year rental. But based on his career in Seattle and what we saw this spring, he should be a fun one-year rental.

A RECORD THAT STOOD FOR 48 YEARS: In the 1947 NFL Divisional Round, the Eagles beat the Steelers 21-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh behind a stellar performance by quarterback Tommy Thompson. The 31-year-old veteran completed 11 of 17 passes for 131 yards with TD passes of 15 yards to Steve Van Buren and 28 yards to Jack Ferrante and didn’t throw an interception. His passer rating of 127.0 was 2^nd-highest in NFL postseason history at that point and remained an Eagles record until 1995, when Rodney Peete posted a 143.3 rating in the 58-37 wild-card win over the Lions at the Vet. In the game of his life, Peete was 17-for-25 for 270 yards with TD passes of 22 yards to Fred Barnett, 43 yards to Rob Carpenter on the final play of the first half and 45 yards to Ricky Watters and no INTs. The only other Eagles QB to top Thompson’s 127.0 is Nick Foles, who had a 141.4 rating in the 2017 NFC Championship Game against the Vikings at the Linc (26-for-33, 352 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs). Crazy that 79 years later, Thompson still has the 3^rd-highest postseason passer rating in Eagles history.

DALLAS GOEDERT’S HISTORIC CATCH PERCENTAGE: One of my favorite stats for tight ends and receivers is catch percentage, which is simply the percentage of targets a given player catches. Dallas Goedert has been over 70 percent in seven of his eight seasons. In 2019, he finished at 67 percent. But only three other tight ends have had more seasons at 70 percent (minimum 30 catches) than Goedert: Jason Witten with 11 in his 18 seasons, Travis Kelce with eight in his 13 seasons and Heath Miller with eight in his 11 seasons. Since 2018, nobody else has had seven such seasons. Goedert’s streak of six straight seasons at 70 percent or higher is longest ever by a tight end. Noah Fant has had five straight going into 2026.  

AN UNDER-RATED FORCE ON THE 2017 EAGLES: The Eagles’ offense had a lot of postseason studs in 2017 – Nick Foles, Corey Clement, Zach Ertz, Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffery, LeGarrette Blount, Torrey Smith – but we can’t forget the guy who led the Eagles in scrimmage yards in the 2017 playoffs, Jay Ajayi. He only played seven regular-season games for the Eagles after coming over from Miami in a trade-deadline move, but he ran for 408 yards with a 5.8 average in those seven games, and he maintained the momentum in the playoffs, where he had 254 scrimmage yards on just 48 touches. Ajayi piled up 98 scrimmage yards vs. the Falcons, 99 vs. the Vikings and 57 in Super Bowl LII against the Patriots, where he, Clement and Blount combined for 255 scrimmage yards. Ajayi’s knees gave out soon after, and he only played seven more NFL games. But his impact on the Eagles’ first Super Bowl championship can’t be over-stated. He was a beast in the 2017 postseason.

JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: Jalen Hurts has thrown three postseason interceptions in 291 attempts. That’s the 2^nd-best interception ratio in NFL playoff history among 65 quarterbacks who’ve thrown at least 200 postseason passes. Alex Smith is No. 1 on that list with two interceptions in 253 attempts with the 49ers and Chiefs. 

BENCH TO THE PRO BOWL: I always loved Jermane Mayberry’s story because how often does a guy branded as a 1^st-round bust who got benched multiple times wind up as a Pro Bowler? That’s exactly what happened with Mayberry, the Eagles’ 1^st-round pick in 1996. He was benched late in 1996 at left tackle for Barrett Brooks and he was benched at left guard for George Hegamin 11 games into the 1998 season following a 20-0 loss to the Giants. But he never sulked, he never complained, he never blamed anybody else. He just kept working and by 2000 emerged as a solid right guard. In 2002, he made his first and only Pro Bowl in his seventh NFL season, becoming the Eagles’ first Pro Bowl guard in 46 years, since Buck Lansford in 1956. Mayberry played here through 2004. 

HOW WILL CHRISTIAN PARKER DO IN DALLAS? I’m curious to see how Christian Parker does as Cowboys defensive coordinator. He’s taking over a unit that was atrocious last year – 30^th with 377 yards allowed, 23^rd with 126 rushing yards allowed, last with 252 passing yards allowed, 25^th in sacks, 30^th in first downs, last on third down, 29th in the red zone, last in points allowed. But the Cowboys not only hired Parker off Vic Fangio’s staff, they added veteran Pro Bowl edge Rashan Gary from Paramus Catholic, 1^st-round picks Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence, veteran Rams corner Cobie Durant, veteran 49ers linebacker Dee Winters, among others. Parker is a sharp guy and has always been highly respected by his players. All the Eagles’ d-backs always spoke reverentially about him. But have the Cowboys added enough to give Parker a fair chance to field a respectable unit? That remains to be seen. But after last year, when the Cowboys allowed over 30 points per game, if he can get the Cowboys’ defense to be just average it would be a major triumph for the Hunterdon County native.

JUST TWO IN 93 YEARS: The Eagles have played 42 overtime games in their history, but they’ve only had two overtime rushing touchdowns. The first was a one-yarder by Randall Cunningham to give the Eagles a 33-27 win over the Raiders at L.A. Coliseum in 1986. The other was Jalen Hurts’ 12-yarder to give the Eagles a 37-34 win over the Bills at the Linc in 2023. Of their 14 other overtime wins, 10 came on field goals, three on touchdown passes – Jaws to Quick for 99 yards against the Falcons in 1985, Sam Bradford to Jordan Matthews in Dallas in 2015 and Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz vs. the Giants in 2019 – and one on a blocked field goal recovery return by Clyde Simmons against the Giants in 1988.