NFL Power Rankings: Chiefs, Ravens remain hot as facilities begin to reopen

Some eyebrows were raised during the 2020 NFL Draft when the Philadelphia Eagles used the No. 53 overall selection on Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts. A Heisman Trophy candidate for the Sooners, and former National Champion with the Alabama Crimson Tide before that, Hurts being selected at that spot didn’t surprise. Instead, it was the fact that the Eagles made the pick.

That’s because Philly was less than one calendar year away from paying Carson Wentz a whole lot of money to be their quarterback. In June of 2019, they had given the former No. 2 overall pick a contract extension worth $128 million over four seasons, with $107 million of that guaranteed. That’s a lot of money to dedicate to a guy only to draft someone else at the position 10 months later.

One thought has been that Hurts will be used as a sort of gadget player, much in the same way New Orleans uses Taysom Hill. Anyone who has watched Hurts and Hill should realize this makes little to no sense. Hurts is a quarterback, not a tight end and not an H-back. And he sure won’t be blocking punts the way Hill does.

In fact, there are pretty much no similarities to how Hill and Hurts play the game. Like at all.

On top of that, you would be hard-pressed to find a time when a gadget player actually put a team over the top, including Hill who has never won a title with the Saints — meaning looking for the “next Taysom Hill” is a pretty odd concept in itself.

Philadelphia is still a good team but the draft was odd for them.