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The Evolution of Jalen Hurts: Part 4 - How the Out Route Became His Best Throw
Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com...route-became-eagles-quarterback-qb-best-throw
Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
A closer look at the development of the Eagles’ franchise quarterback.
This is the fourth and final of a series of posts, breaking down how Jalen Hurts has dramatically improved his game since he joined the league. Each category focuses on a specific type of mistake he used to make—and how he’s grown past it. The whole series will be linked to an episode of my podcast, which you can find here. I have a huge thank you to James Foster (one of the best analysts out there) for providing me with old Hurts’ film and for helping with this series. Go and follow him and subscribe to his YouTube channel.
Previously: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
Part 4 - How the Out Route Became Jalen Hurts’ Best Throw
As I continue to read the news and see analysts disrespecting Jalen Hurts, I am so glad I decided to do this series! I hope I’ve managed to cover the significant areas of Hurts’ improvement. I think Hurts is one of the best throwers of an out route in the NFL right now. I can’t pretend that I study every quarterback as I do with Hurts, but I haven’t seen many players who currently throws it better than he does. There are so many examples of this route in his film over the past few years, but he didn’t always excel at it! In the early stages of Jalen Hurts’ NFL career, out routes were another issue due to the lack of timing and arm strength.
Let’s have a look at the 2020-21 film again. You can see that his throws to the sideline were often late and lacked velocity. Just look at set one.
Look at the clip against Dallas, for example, which shows Hurts throwing late to the outside on a timing route. DeVonta Smith loses his footing, but the bigger issue is how easily Trevon Diggs jumps it for a pick-six. Hurts stares down the route, hesitates, and delivers a ball inside and late. You can’t throw out-breaking routes like that in the NFL. They are probably the most dangerous throws to make because they will turn into an instant pick-six.
It wasn’t a one-off, either. The second throw, against the Saints, is even worse. Late trigger, poor anticipation, inside placement, and a lack of juice. It was nearly another interception, and a clear example of a quarterback who didn’t trust what he was seeing or have the processing speed to throw it on time. No route in the NFL requires more timing and arm talent than the deep out.
Hurts’ struggles with outs made sense. Just think of the other parts of this series. Hurts didn’t have a cannon, so he couldn’t get away with being late the way a quarterback like Josh Allen can. If he wasn’t decisive and early, the defense had a chance to make a play. And he was frequently late to these types of throws.
However, let’s look at the improvement Hurts has made in this area. Before we even get to the film, just take a look at this...
The improvement is crazy. These aren’t minor changes—they’re the result of a huge amount of work in his mechanics, processing, and confidence. Now let’s take a look at the film over the past couple of years.
The first clip shows all of his improvement in one clip. It’s perfect timing. The ball is out before the receiver turns, as Hurts is now throwing with anticipation. The 2nd clip vs. the Cowboys is outrageous. It’s fourth-and-three, and Hurts threads another out route to the sideline with perfect placement to Dallas Goedert. These are high-leverage throws in important situations. Hurts clearly trusts his arm and the ability to make these throws now.
A lot of the clips show Hurts in the red zone where Hurts has to make quick decisions and his mechanics are spot on. He has enough juice to make the throw.
I can’t talk about deep out routes without going back to the Super Bowl against Kansas City. The throw he made to Dallas Goedert on a deep out route on a smash concept with a cornerback closing and a safety looming is absurd. This was on third down, with a small window. Hurts shows no hesitation and makes a ridiculous throw. In the Super Bowl!!!
Oh yeah, he hit another great out throw in the same game.
It was the kind of play you simply didn’t see from him in 2020 or 2021. He genuinely looks like a different quarterback.
Overall
I believe most ‘rationale’ NFL analysts now accept that Jalen Hurts is now one of the most reliable quarterbacks in the NFL. He isn’t perfect, but he’s an extremely good quarterback. I won’t bore you with ranking NFL quarterbacks, because I dislike rankings (although I did rank them all over on my Patreon for anyone interested...). Still, I personally have Hurts a tier below the top 4 and towards the top of that second tier of quarterbacks. I went back and watched the 2023 Super Bowl for this article and the idea that any serious analyst could have someone like Trevor Lawrence above Hurts is genuinely absurd. If anyone can find a game where Lawrence played better than Hurts did in that Super Bowl, please let me know!
The four areas that I have covered — deep ball accuracy, touch, out-of-structure creativity, and precision on out routes — show the transformation of Jalen Hurts as a passer. Early in his career, each of these areas had obvious limitations. Those who were critical of him were not lying; the film was just not very good. He struggled with velocity and anticipation on outs, lacked consistency deep, was often a beat late processing, and didn’t yet have the control to layer throws with touch.
But year by year, he’s cleaned up each of his weaknesses. What were once question marks have become strengths. All of these areas combine to create a significantly improved quarterback. His anticipation has led to an improvement in his out-route precision. His improved pocket poise has helped his deep accuracy. His mechanical discipline joins them all together. That’s the result of a lot of work in the off-season. This isn’t a player who just got better at one thing. He’s improved dramatically as a quarterback. It’s a real shame that so many in the media refuse to cover the improvements. They fail to understand that it doesn’t mean they were wrong when they were critiquing him a few years ago. It’s sad really, because this is a player we should be celebrating rather than picking flaws in.
Hopefully, this series has done a decent job of showing just how far Jalen Hurts has come as a passer. The best thing about Hurts? He’s never stopped growing. He takes to coaching, puts in the work, and continues to improve every year. If the last few seasons are anything to go by, he’s only getting better. Who knows, maybe in a couple of years, I’ll be back writing a new version of this series, charting the next step in his evolution as a quarterback.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here.
Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com...route-became-eagles-quarterback-qb-best-throw
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