For some fans, the story of Jalen Hurts is already legendary. He’s the quarterback who walked through confetti after a Super Bowl loss, made it his lock screen, then came back two years later and won the whole thing. He won it all, hoisting the Lombardi and claiming Super Bowl MVP. And still, for every highlight and every historic box score, the loudest voices seemed more eager to crown inevitability than appreciate the climb. There’s even a fan blog titled An Ode to Jalen Hurts, posted days after the win, quoting Rudyard Kipling and marveling at how Hurts treats triumph and disaster the same. Not with theatrics. With control. Consistency. Earned respect.

And yet the numbers still say something different. Fifty career wins. Two Super Bowl appearances. One of just five QBs in league history to hit 20+ passing TDs and 10+ rushing in a season. The part that’s harder to explain is this: after all that, Hurts still doesn’t crack the top five in most offseason quarterback rankings. Sometimes not even the top ten. It’s the same debate that every critic recycles in a glossier wrapper…

That disrespect reached a boiling point during ESPN’s 2025 quarterback rankings discussion. The network’s anchor Evan Cohen erupted in disbelief as the list was revealed, and for the next 3 minutes his voice rose with each syllable. “He’s started sixty-two games as a full-time starter. His team has won fifty games. Been to the Super Bowl twice. Beat the Chiefs.“ Then came the kicker that left viewers stunned: “And you’re telling me this guy is ninth?”

“This man is as disrespected as anyone we’ve seen since Brady wasn’t ranked over Manning,“ Cohen declared. His words were hanging in the air like an indictment of the entire quarterback evaluation system. The comparison cut deep because we’d seen this story before – the same obsession with traditional quarterback molds, the same dismissal of winners who don’t fit the prototype. Only now, the league is ignoring Hurts’ championship pedigree just like it once discounted Brady’s seven rings in favor of Manning’s record-setting stats… All to elevate more conventional passers.

What made Cohen’s argument so devastating was the cold, hard numbers backing it up. While Patrick Mahomes had thrown 271 more passes last season, Jalen Hurts had been decisively better with every opportunity – his 103.7 passer rating towering over Mahomes’ 93.5, his 5 interceptions less than half of Mahomes’ 11. And when the lights shone brightest in Super Bowl LIX? There was Hurts again, outplaying football’s golden boy with a 103.9 rating to Mahomes’ 94.4 while adding three rushing touchdowns. “And people say all you want, Jalen Hurts to pass the ball, that’s how you beat the Eagles,“ Cohen said, pausing to let the irony sink in. “Did the Chiefs beat the Eagles that way, just out of curiosity?”

Cohen delivered his final verdict with a quiet shake of his head: “It’s absurd.“ And in that moment, the truth became undeniable. The NFL continues to make the same mistake, continually searching for reasons to doubt winners who don’t fit the traditional image. But history has a way of correcting these injustices, usually with another championship celebration where the so-called “system quarterback” is holding the Lombardi while his doubters search for new excuses. Some lessons, it seems, only stick when confetti falls and teams parade their championships.

Jalen Hurts doesn’t fit the prototype!

The real mystery isn’t why Jalen Hurts wins games – we’ve seen that on full display for four seasons now. The true puzzle is why the NFL keeps searching for reasons to justify ranking him ninth. The answer reveals an uncomfortable truth about how the league evaluates quarterbacks.

As Jeremy Fowler put it: “The question is not whether Hurts belongs in the top 10. He undoubtedly does. It is whether he has the ability from the pocket to vault into the top five eventually.” The stats suggest he already can. His 74% completion rate from the pocket was second best in football last year, and he set career highs with a 68.7% overall completion rate and 103.7 passer rating while throwing just five interceptions.

The reality is Philadelphia’s offense simply didn’t ask him to throw much. With Saquon Barkley leading the NFL in carries and Hurts contributing 630 rushing yards with 14 touchdowns himself, the Eagles’ run-heavy approach meant Hurts attempted only 361 passes, his fewest since his four-game rookie season. This lack of volume obscures his true passing ability. When called upon in big moments, he delivered, particularly in the playoffs where he threw for 726 yards and five touchdowns against just one interception, culminating in a Super Bowl MVP performance where he outplayed Mahomes.

Fowler’s Russell Wilson comparison hits the nail on the head: “More than a few voters see shades of a Russell Wilson career arc, Hurts has many traits that contribute to winning at a high level. But needs a steady running game around him.“ But here’s what that comparison misses — Hurts is already a better pure passer than Wilson was at this stage. His 103.7 passer rating last season topped Mahomes’, and he threw just five picks all year. The tools are there. The opportunities aren’t.

History keeps giving us the same lesson in different uniforms. Tom Brady spent his early career hearing he lacked the physical tools, only to win seven Super Bowls. Russell Wilson was deemed “too short” before revolutionizing quarterback play. Kurt Warner came from bagging groceries to winning MVPs. Now Hurts has two Super Bowl trips before age 26. He still faces the same tired skepticism about his passing ability. This doubt persists despite clear evidence to the contrary.

At the end of the day, the NFL might still value quarterbacks who fit a certain mold over quarterbacks who win games. Hurts breaks the mold, so the rankings knock him down. But as he keeps winning and other “prototype” quarterbacks keep falling short, maybe the mold itself is broken. Either way, Hurts will keep proving doubters wrong one victory at a time.