Philadelphia Eagles 2020 NFL Draft grades: Jalen Hurts coming aboard

Carson Wentz is firmly in place as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. But durability concerns linger, as he was injured during the playoff loss to the Seahawks last year and just can’t seem to finish seasons healthy. Barring a free agent signing like Joe Flacco, Nate Sudfeld was lined up to be Philadelphia’s No. 2 quarterback this year.

Enter Hurts, who is a dangerous runner and an underrated passer with room to improve in the latter area. A the root of a plan to have him on the field with Wentz at times appears to be in place, which invites visions of the role Taysom Hill plays for the New Orleans Saints.

Last year, Eagles’ passing game coordinator Press Taylor hinted at the idea of using a swiss army knife-type player.

"I think at some point, one of the big things will be having multiple people on the field who can throw the ball,”….“I think at some point I can see something like that coming into play. I’m not necessarily saying that [the Eagles will be] doing anything like that. I just think that can be something that’s pushing the envelope."

Comparing Hurts to Hill is to unfairly pigeonhole him, as Hill is limited in terms of being anything close to a traditional quarterback. But multi-faceted use will be a way for the Eagles to get Hurts on the field as a rookie, and if Wentz were to be injured again at some point he’s an automatic upgrade over Sudfeld.

If push comes to shove, Hurts will become a tradeable asset down the road. Plenty of teams have drafted quarterbacks when they’ve had one that wasn’t going anywhere, then moved them when another team came calling.

After taking Hurts, Roseman cited a desire for the Eagles become a “quarterback factory”.