Eagles drafting Jalen Hurts probably screwed up the Patriots plan

The New England Patriots didn’t find Tom Brady’s successor in the NFL Draft, and it might be because the Eagles took away the quarterback they wanted

The Philadelphia Eagles provided the shock of Friday’s NFL Draft by selecting Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts with the 53rd overall pick. Seven picks later, the New England Patriots drafted pass-rushing linebacker Josh Uche from Michigan.

But the Patriots may not have wanted to pick Uche. It sure sounds like Bill Belichick was targeting a quarterback and that the Eagles surprise selection of Hurts prevented them from finding the successor to Tom Brady in Foxborough.

“If we feel like we find the right situation, we’ll certainly draft them. We’ve drafted them in multiple years, multiple points in the draft,” Belichick said on Saturday night following the draft. “Didn’t work out the last three days. That wasn’t by design. We just tried to do the best we could with what we had this weekend.”

The Patriots had 10 picks over the seven rounds of the draft and didn’t use any of them on a quarterback. That leaves them heading into the 2020 season with Jarrett Stidham (four career passing attempts) and journeyman backup Brian Hoyer as their options. They also signed J’mar Smith as an undrafted free agent from Louisiana Tech, where the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year was a three-year starter.

Hurts would’ve fit the Patriots perfectly. He’s a proven winner, ideal for an organization that has grown accustomed to lifting Lombardi trophies. Hurts went 26-2 at Alabama but lost his starting job after being benched at halftime of the 2017 National Championship game in favor of Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to an overtime victory over Georgia and Hurts never regained the job.

After a year of being a backup, Hurts transferred to Oklahoma and re-established his draft stock. He accounted for 53 touchdowns in his only year in Norman, including 32 through the air and 20 on the ground. He was runner-up in Heisman Trophy balloting to LSU’s Joe Burrow.

Belichick will probably never reveal whether the Patriots were planning on drafting Hurts with the 60th pick. But if Hurts had slid past the Eagles, it would’ve been an enticing opportunity to pair the dynamic quarterback with a mastermind like Belichick. The Eagles stopped that from becoming a reality.

The Eagles weren’t expected to be targeting quarterbacks that early in the draft. Carson Wentz is still just 27 and signed a four-year extension last June. He’s also injury-prone, missing the Eagles’ Super Bowl run in 2017 with a torn ACL and the end of the season in 2018 with a back injury. In the Wild Card game against Seattle in January, he was forced from the game in the first quarter with a concussion. For how successful he’s been in his four years as a starter, he’s been healthy enough to complete just one pass in the postseason.

So head coach Doug Pederson and General Manager Howie Roseman went looking for a backup plan. Hurts will be used as a dual-threat by the Eagles, coming in for read-option plays and wildcat formations similar to how the Saints use Taysom Hill or how the Ravens acclimated Lamar Jackson to the NFL in his rookie season.

He likely won’t supplant Wentz as the full-time starter for years. With the Patriots, though, he could’ve contended for the starting job right away and been an exciting replacement for Brady. Thanks to the Eagles, the Patriots will never know what could’ve been.