NFL Coaches, Executives, and Scouts Don’t Think Jalen Hurts is a Top 10 Quarterback in 2024

It’s mid-July, which means it’s time for a bunch of NFL rankings and listicles and various other summer time fillers. We begin the week with a Jeremy Fowler ESPN story that ranks the top 10 quarterbacks, as determined by executives, coaches, and scouts. Here’s the list:

1. Patrick Mahomes
2. Joe Burrow
3. Josh Allen
4. Lamar Jackson
5. Matt Stafford
6. Justin Herbert
7. C.J. Stroud
8. Aaron Rodgers
9. Jared Goff
10. Dak Prescott

No Jalen Hurts. He’s one of six “honorable mention” QBs alongside Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Tua Tagaovailoa, Kurt Cousins, and Trevor Lawrence.

Here’s the Hurts blurb:

After a Year 3 star turn that garnered a Super Bowl appearance and a $255 million contract, Hurts’ play dipped in 2023. His QBR ranking fell from fourth (68.3) to 12th (60.1). His 15 interceptions were so uncharacteristic that the total nearly matched that of his first three years combined (18). A knee injury that he tried his best to manage clearly affected him, according to several evaluators.

“He was playing hurt,” an NFC executive said. “The Eagles tried to downplay that, but he didn’t look right. He wasn’t the same runner he was in the past, and passing the ball was tough for him.” Added an AFC scout: “He’ll always be in that 7-12 range, depending on how productive he is each year.”

Also of note: The Eagles’ offense “became stale” as a whole, according to a high-ranking NFL team official, and the predictable offensive attack affected Hurts’ stock.

That explanation is not unfair. 2023 Hurts didn’t match 2022 Hurts. And there’s some recency bias here, which you’d expect. The Eagles went straight into the toilet in the second half of the season while guys like Matt Stafford and Jared Goff played well. But if you put all these guys into a vacuum where they are 100% healthy there’s no chance in hell I’m taking Dak Prescott over Hurts. And Aaron Rodgers is a total question mark at this point. He didn’t even play last year. So if you want to be offended and make a case to put Jalen in there over one of those two, go for it.  Normally you don’t put too much stock into these kinds of lists, since they’re engagement farming tools created by tools like Chris Simms, but in this case it’s a survey of people who actually matter, as explained in the story:

With 2024 NFL training camps on the horizon, it is again time for the league’s true insiders to make their voices heard. ESPN surveyed league executives, coaches and scouts to help us rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions, from quarterback to cornerback and all positions in between. This is the fifth edition of these rankings, and as usual, several players have moved up or fallen off last year’s lists.

A reminder of the rankings process: Voters give us their best 10 players at a position, then we compile the results and rank candidates based on number of top-10 votes, composite average and dozens of interviews, with research and film study help from ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen. In total, nearly 80 voters submitted a ballot on at least one position, and in many cases all positions. Additional voting and follow-up calls with those surveyed help us break any ties.