What does Jalen Hurts have to do to earn the same level of respect and recognition as other top-five quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, or Lamar Jackson?
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Despite leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl win, just two years after taking them to the big game and narrowly losing, Hurts remains one of the most polarizing quarterbacks in the league. Opinions about him are sharply divided, and he continues to face skepticism about his credentials as an elite quarterback. One of the latest critical voices is Hall of Famer Cris Carter.
Instead of crediting Hurts for the Eagles’ recent success, Carter argued that if you were to insert any of the league’s consensus top-five quarterbacks—Mahomes, Burrow, Josh Allen, or Lamar Jackson- into the Eagles’ system, the results would be even better.
“If you put all those other QBs in Philadelphia because Philly’s roster top to bottom, what does Philadelphia do? If it’s Patrick Mahomes, they’re a dynasty; if it’s Josh Allen, they do the same thing. They do the same thing if they’ve Joe Burrow, their running attack as far as QB option, but Joe Burrow is a freak athlete, and their passing game is gonna be on point.
Carter also suggested that while other top quarterbacks have consistently elevated underwhelming supporting casts, Hurts has largely benefited from a situation where the infrastructure was already in place.
The likes of Burrow, Allen, and Mahomes have often carried their teams despite deficiencies around them. Jalen, on the other hand, has had everything he needs, and while he has delivered, critics argue he has simply done enough, not more.
Perhaps the most cutting part of Carter’s criticism came when he addressed Hurts’ status as a dual-threat quarterback.
“Jayden Daniels and Lamar are better versions of Hurts. “
One could imply that if Hurts weren’t a threat with his legs, the Eagles would have considered benching him due to his relatively pedestrian passing numbers.
Even Cam Newton, a former MVP who spent nearly a decade in the NFL and had some stellar years at quarterback, doesn’t place Hurts in his top-ten QB rankings. Newton acknowledged that Alabama Alum is a good player, but argued it’s difficult to truly assess his talent because he’s surrounded by elite weapons- top-tier receivers, a strong running game, and one of the best offensive lines in football.
But that’s exactly where the narrative around him misses the mark.
Is Jalen Hurts a top-five quarterback?
Jalen Hurts does deserve to be in the top five. While some quarterbacks may boast better individual stats, many of them haven’t been able to win anything meaningful. He managed to get past Patrick Mahomes on the biggest stage, something several of the so-called elite QBs have failed to do.
He has figured out what it takes to win with a loaded roster, and that’s not as easy as it sounds. Plenty of quarterbacks have had talent around them and still failed to capitalize.
Hurts has shown he can rise to the moment, make the right decisions, and lead a team when it matters most. That ability to harness the potential of an elite supporting cast is a skill in itself, one that deserves more recognition.
Still, the perception about him is unlikely to change overnight. Until he consistently puts up dominant passing numbers and proves he can carry the team when things around him break down, critics like Cris Carter will continue to view him as a step behind the game’s elite.
