Eagles Rumors: Jalen Hurts’ Growth Prime Objective of OC Search amid Kingsbury Links

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 25, 2024

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Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts has already turned himself into an elite quarterback, but the team is looking for an offensive coordinator who can get even more out of the 2022 Pro Bowler, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

“A prime objective with Philly’s search, I’m told, is to maximize Hurts,” Fowler reported Thursday.

Fowler added his “antenna is up” for former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who has reportedly interviewed for the job. He cited the similarities between Kingsbury’s offense and the one Hurts ran at Oklahoma with Lincoln Riley.

In Thursday’s report, ESPN’s Dan Graziano speculated former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey could be in play too.

Hurts’ performance didn’t decline dramatically in 2023. He threw for 3,858 yards, 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and he was 12th among qualified passers in QBR.

But head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters Wednesday he thought the Eagles “got a little bit stale on offense by the end of the year” when explaining why they moved on from offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. Hurts’ numbers back that up. While Philly dropped five of its final six games, he had a 77.6 passer rating and as many touchdowns as interceptions (five).

Before the playoffs, ESPN’s Tim McManus detailed a “disconnect between the visions” of the offense among Hurts, Sirianni and Johnson.

Johnson and Hurts clicked when the latter was Philly’s quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022, but the dynamic simply became different when he got promoted to run the offense.

Sirianni acknowledged Hurts may have been disappointed that Johnson was ultimately shown the door.

“Obviously they have a relationship,” he told reporters. “You’ll have to ask Jalen when you get an opportunity to talk to him. But anytime you have to let people go, we all hurt when we let people go. Every one of us. This is the worst part of the job, having to let people go.”

If Hurts is disgruntled at all, then making the right hire becomes all the more imperative.