“That’s the Reason Tua Tagovailoa Had to Replace You”: Ryan Clark Gets Real About Jalen Hurts’ ‘Bad Rep’ Before His Super Bowl Win

Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson are recognized as the NFL’s top four quarterbacks. Fifth place was very much up for grabs this season. And Jalen Hurts has cemented himself in that spot for the time being following his Super Bowl LIX performance.

One could argue Jayden Daniels is worthy of consideration for the fifth slot but Hurts’ head-to-head wins and Super Bowl MVP honor are clear separators. However, the same rationale isn’t used when comparing Hurts to members of the above quartet. Neither Allen, Jackson nor Burrow has a Lombardi Trophy to his name. Despite this, Hurts is ranked below them without much debate.

Why is this the case? According to ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, the justification traces back to Hurts’ time at Alabama. He told the audience of Marshawn Lynch’s Get Got Pod that fans still think of Hurts as the player who was benched when the 2018 College Football Playoff title was on the line.

“Jalen Hurts came into the league with a perception that, ‘you can’t throw the football. That’s the reason you’re a second-round pick,” said Clark, before elaborating on his benching incident during the 2018 college championship game that still seems to haunt Hurts.

“That’s the reason Tua Tagovailoa had to replace you in the national championship game. So anytime he’s not throwing or the passing game doesn’t look like people wanted, they immediately draw back to that perception,” added Clark.

In his sophomore season at Alabama, Hurts led the Crimson Tide to the 2018 National Championship against Georgia. However, Hurts struggled in the first half, completing just 3 of 8 passes for 21 yards as Alabama trailed 13-0 in the all-important game.

At halftime, head coach Nick Saban benched Hurts because of his lopsided performance in favor of Tagovailoa, who led the Crimson Tide to a 26-23 overtime victory.

Hurts, meanwhile, didn’t do much to change this narrative during his first two NFL seasons in 2020 and ’21. He completed just 59.0% of his pass attempts. His completion percentage over the past three campaigns (66.7%) indicates he has raised his level of play significantly since then. That’s in spite of his passing yards per game declining each year in that span.

Clark compares Hurts and Josh Allen

The NFL’s 2025 Divisional round featured four compelling matchups. The two closest contests involved Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles and Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills. Both Hurts and Allen secured one-possession home victories to advance to their respective conference championships.

Hurts had a higher completion percentage (75.0% to 72.7%), more passing yards (128 to 126), more total yards (198 to 146), and a better passer rating (91.2 to 86.7) than Allen in the divisional round.

Yet when the dust settled, Allen was patted on the back for his efforts. Meanwhile, questions continued to mount about Hurts struggling as a passer. To Clark, this represents the same perception issue.

“Everybody praised [Josh Allen] for beating Baltimore and he threw for 126 yards… because the perception of Josh Allen is that he’s a good quarterback… that he’s a top-tier thrower of the football. So they don’t look at his statistics the same way they look at Jalen’s,” said Clark.

Hurts wasn’t the only Philadelphia cog to be disrespected on the path to a Super Bowl title. Head coach Nick Sirianni, like Hurts, has had his accomplishments minimized throughout his NFL tenure. Following their championship, nobody should be doing such a thing ever again.