The Philadelphia Eagles soared to victory in Super Bowl LIX, stomping the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. It was a dominant showing all around, with Jalen Hurts taking home MVP honors after an impressively balanced and composed effort.
It has been quite the journey for Philadelphia's quarterback, a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Hurts famously won a championship at Alabama, only to later get benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa. He went on to revive his college career at Oklahoma, but there was plenty of skepticism around his NFL future after such a bumpy stint with the Crimson Tide.
Hurts was part of a loaded rookie class at his position. The 2020 draft has produced five regular starters at QB: Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Tagovailoa, all first-round picks, as well as Hurts from round two.
Hurts has long been considered lesser than his peers, for reasons that continue to boggle the mind — and feel outright dumbfounding after his show-stopping performances in both Super Bowl LVII and Super Bowl LIX. While Hurts may not play the most explosive brand of football, his constant success in Philadelphia defies criticism. He wins games, which is more important than any individual metric.
There were four quality quarterbacks drafted ahead of Hurts, but he has earned bragging rights as the first to achieve immortality in the Super Bowl. Let's re-rank the 2020 QB class with the benefit of hindsight.
5. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa has settled into a productive role with the Miami Dolphins' offense, but Hurts' former Alabama replacement has found NFL postseason success much harder to come by. The rare QB southpaw, Tagovailoa is absolutely great under perfect conditions. Give him a clean pocket (and two abnormally quick wideouts in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle), and he's going to put up numbers.
The issues with Tagovailoa tend to pop up when the pocket collapses. If a play breaks down, Tua struggles to salvage it. Miami's offense is all tempo and timing. Put a hand in Tagovailoa's face and force him to operate under pressure, and there's a good chance he'll underthrow it.
For all the hype around his long balls, both at Alabama and in Miami, Tagovailoa quietly has the least dependable arm of this group. He puts incredible arc on his throws and displays soft touch, but it's all very rigid. Miami's recent postseason defeats are almost always tied to Tagovailoa's inability to live up to the moment. He floats passes too much when the heat is turned up and he doesn't have much maneuverability on his drop-backs.
Tagovailoa's one-dimensional nature, ironically enough, puts him well behind Hurts in the QB rankings.
4. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Love has successfully filled Aaron Rodgers' shoes for the Green Bay Packers, earning a historic contract and putting the Pack back in playoff contention. That said, there's still a lot Love has to prove on the postseason stage.
His decision-making and general polish have improved drastically since college, but Love finished the 2024 campaign with 11 INTs and four fumbles. He can get sped up under pressure, and too often his ambition gets the best of him. It's better to take risks than to never venture outside the flow of the offense — a common criticism of Hurts once upon a time — but Love is still working to conquer the mistakes of youth.
There is no denying Love's raw arm talent and incredible athleticism. He has all the tools of a future Super Bowl quarterback, so there's a chance these rankings shift over time. For now, however, Love still has to get over the hump and lead the Packers to the promised land. His second season at the controls was not the smooth leveling-up a lot of fans expected. Green Bay needs to improve the roster around Love, to be clear, but he does not operate with the poise and command Hurts does. Those are the facts.
3. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
This has been a contentious debate for years, but anyone putting Justin Herbert over Jalen Hurts right now is kidding themselves. Postseason success is an important metric for any quarterback. Herbert now has a couple genuine meltdowns under his belt, including an ugly four-interception performance against Houston in this year's Wild Card round. That came after throwing three interceptions all season.
Until Herbert can exorcise his playoffs demons, there isn't much of a contest in these rankings. He fared well in the Jim Harbaugh-Greg Roman offense, which prioritizes balance and efficiency over high-stakes gambling. Herbert has immense arm talent and he generally limits mistakes, but it's clear that when he's flustered — when he's asked to go above and beyond under the brightest of lights — he can still flatline.
The inclination for Los Angeles Chargers fans to argue in Herbert's favor is understandable. He does have all your prototypical star attributes on paper. The size, athleticism, power, and accuracy is off the charts. Maybe one day Herbert can get it together in the postseason and lead the Chargers on a deep run. Until that happens, though, we simply cannot put him over Hurts. You have to earn it.
2. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
The Super Bowl LIX MVP and two-time NFC champ has effectively cemented his legacy at the age of 26. If he can stack a few more deep runs before his prime runs out, Hurts might end up being remembered as one of the greats of his generation.
Is the Eagles' elite offensive line and WR corps part of the equation here? Of course. Every great quarterback has his share of complementary star power. That said, Hurts is a genuinely productive quarterback, notching 18 touchdowns through the air and 14 touchdowns as a runner this past season. A common argument is that Hurts poaches RB touchdowns because of Philly's infamous "tush push," but the Eagles QB is a bonafide threat with his legs. We saw it consistently in the Super Bowl, when he picked up 72 yards on 11 rushes. When the O-line collapses and Hurts is forced to improvise, he's great at finding the edge and turning the corner.
Hurts has built his entire brand around poise and composure. He does not have the raw electricity behind his throws that Love or Herbert can manifest, but Hurts is patient in the pocket and great at placing throws right in the bread basket. Philly's reliance on the run this season led many folks to forget that Hurts can ratchet it up in the passing game when called upon. The Chiefs shut down Saquon Barkley in Super Bowl LIX, but Hurts stepped up and poked holes in an accomplished secondary.
He has been to a pair of Super Bowls and proven that he can win in a variety of ways. What else does the man have to prove? Hurts only threw five interceptions this season and turned it over twice, total, in the playoffs. He's the real deal.
1. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Hurts has the team success to back up his case here, but there's no other candidate for the No. 1 slot. Joe Burrow has been to the Super Bowl once already, becoming the only AFC quarterback other than Tom Brady to get the best of Mahomes in the postseason. That speaks volumes.
The Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to put a competent team around Burrow in recent years, while his 2023 campaign was tainted by a nagging injury. This past season, however, was a nice reminder that Burrow is special, even when he's constantly fighting an uphill battle. The Bengals only won nine games, but Burrow put together the best individual season of any quarterback in the NFL. He would've won MVP if the Bengals were even close to contention.
Burrow threw for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns, completing a whopping 70.6 percent of his passes. The dude is special. He has won at every level, from a historic LSU stint to Cincy's Super Bowl appearance a few years ago. The 28-year-old is still waiting on his ring, but if the Bengals can figure out this defense and keep a decent pass-catching corps around him, that opportunity will arrive eventually.