Jeffrey Lurie reportedly wants Jalen Hurts to be Eagles starting quarterback this year, doesn’t want competition

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie wants Jalen Hurts to be Philadelphia’s starting quarterback in 2021, according to a report by Chris Mortensen (via @WordOnTheBirds). The NFL insider said the following during a recent appearance on ESPN:

MORTENSEN: “Yeah, Jalen Hurts is the guy. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie basically sent the message to his personnel department and Howie Roseman that he wants to do whatever he can to help Jalen Hurts succeed and NOT bring someone in to compete for the post. Now they have a new head coach in Nick Sirianni, he understands what the owner wants, the owner gets. And I might remind people on this one: last year the owner was in favor of writing Jalen Hurts. This created a ripple effect. But one thing that happened with the Eagles, yells at me, why Ja’Marr Chase should be in the game with this pick, is that they didn’t stay true to their draft board. And their personnel department has many followers of Ozzie Newsome of Baltimore. Ozzie still sticks to the draft board. Somehow they got out of the draft and at No.21 they took Jalen Reagor, the wide receiver, instead of Justin Jefferson, who had a better rating on the Eagles’ table. How do you explain that? We don’t have enough time. But Jalen Hurts is this year’s quarterback, they don’t want to compete for him.

There are a number of things to unpack here.

• To begin with, we must note how this information differs from what Mortensen and Adam Schefter previously published in a joint report after Carson Wentz was traded last month. They said that “the Eagles will likely look to Jalen Hurts, although they also intend to compete for him. We don’t expect the Eagles’ starting position to automatically revert to Hurts. Now Mortensen is saying the opposite: Hurts is the starter and there must be no competition. Why this gap? Well, Mort notes that not everyone is necessarily on the same page:

• Not very comforting to see the owner involved in the decisions of the staff. Ideally, you want an owner who hires a good GM and head coach and trusts them to decide the starting quarterback. It doesn’t appear to be the setup here.
• The feeling here is that It hurts SHOULD be the Eagles starting quarterback this year. What does the organization really have to gain by paying and playing a deadlock veteran (eg Marcus Mariota, Jacoby Brissett, Tyrod Taylor) in their place?
• Consider the #smokescreen angle of this report. If the Eagles really want to draft a quarterback, they don’t want everyone to know it. Being in this position would either ruin their influence for a potential trade or motivate teams to take 6th place overall.
• It’s interesting that the rating on Jefferson being higher than Reagor on the Eagles’ scoreboard last year is raised here. This is not the first time we have heard this. Jeff McLane previously reported that scouts had Jefferson higher, but the coaching staff preferred Reagor. But … it’s not like the coaches have the final say on this decision.
• I was a little confused at first as to why the Reagor / Jefferson case came up, but Mort seems to be suggesting the Eagles will pick Chase at No.6 (if he’s there) and not force a pick on one. quarterback because they go there. to get their board’s confidence back and try to build around Hurts as well. Indeed, the Eagles shouldn’t enter the draft with the mindset they need to pick up a No.6 passer no matter what. At least three-quarters are likely to leave the board before their selection, assuming they don’t trade.