Eagles Offense Goes Through Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith
The Philadelphia Eagles’ championship window officially closed last year. The Eagles’ first round draft pick, Jalen Reagor, didn’t live up to expectations. Also, franchise quarterback Carson Wentz had the worst season of his career, leading to the departure of him and head coach Doug Pederson.
Now in 2021, the Eagles are in full rebuild mode, and the offense will be led by the Alabama connection of Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith.
From Bama to Philly. @JalenHurts and @DeVontaSmith_6 are ready to play together again. ? pic.twitter.com/owyILgb2NV
— NFL (@NFL) June 8, 2021
Hurts and Smith were both on the 2018 Alabama team that won the national championship, courtesy of Smith’s catch in overtime. Hurts started that season, but was benched in the second half of the national championship game.
Fast forward to today, both of them are hoping to make an impact and show they can be building blocks for the future.
Smith is coming into a deplorable wide receiver room. Last season, Travis Fulgham was the only wide receiver to amass 500 yards (539).
During his Heisman trophy winning season, Smith caught over 1,800 yards by himself. His speed and quickness will give the Eagles a legitimate deep threat they haven’t had since the prime years of Desean Jackson. WynnBET has Smith tied with his college teammate, Jaylen Waddle, at +1800 odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Hurts, who will be responsible for controlling the offense, showed promise during his four starts in 2020. The second round pick doesn’t have the full commitment from the organization that he’s the quarterback of the future, however after trading Wentz, he is the quarterback of right now. Hurts is mobile and can make plays with his feet, which will help considering the Eagles were very inconsistent on the offensive line last year.
WynnBET currently has Hurts with +5000 odds to win MVP of the league. While it seems like a longshot, Hurts is in a wide open division where he could stumble into a great amount of success with the right breaks of the ball.
Hurts and Smith combined for 693 yards and 6 touchdowns in their last season together. They are a couple years older, better players, and now have an NFL franchise to carry.