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Jalen Hurts

Running will make new starter a fantasy standout

The Eagles have traded away Carson Wentz, firmly positioning Jalen Hurts atop the depth chart. True, the Eagles "intend to bring in competition for him." But I'm pretty confident that whatever they turn up in free agency or the draft, their best starting option next season will be the quarterback they selected in the second round a year ago. Fantasy teams should be very interested.

As a passer and starting quarterback, Hurts is a fairly unknown commodity. He had a couple of 300-yard passing performances (against bad defenses) in his four starts last season, but was under 170, and with only 1 touchdown, in his other two starts (against good defenses). No one can be certain he's the team's franchise quarterback of the future, or that he'll still be starting the second half of the season. (If Doug Pederson were still around, perhaps Nate Sudfeld would get a long look.)

But as a runner, Hurts is something special. That was clear at both Alabama and Oklahoma, where he had three seasons with over 850 rushing yards and 8-plus touchdowns, including 20 rushing scores as a senior. And it was abundantly clear last season. In his four starts, he rushed for 272 yards; that's 68 yards per game. Over the last decade, that's one of the top 3 rushing averages by any quarterback to make at least 4 starts in a season. The only one better was Lamar Jackson, twice.

QUARTERBACK RUSHING, 2010-2020
PlayerYearStYdsTDY/G
Lamar Jackson2019151206780.4
Lamar Jackson20187556479.0
Jalen Hurts20204272368.0
Lamar Jackson2020151005767.0
Michael Vick201012676956.3
Robert Griffin III201215815754.3
Russell Wilson201416849653.1
Josh Allen201811631852.6
Terrelle Pryor20139576252.4
Taysom Hill20204209452.0
Kyler Murray2020168191151.2
Cam Newton201716754647.1
Tim Tebow201111660647.1
Cam Newton201216741846.3
Michael Vick201113589145.3
Cam Newton2011167061444.1
Michael Vick20136306243.7
Tyrod Taylor201514568440.6
Colin Kaepernick201416639139.9
Cam Newton2015166361039.8
Cam Newton2020155921239.5
Colin Kaepernick201611468239.0
Tyrod Taylor201615580638.7
Cam Newton201414539538.5
Deshaun Watson20176269238.4
Robert Griffin III20165190238.0
Robert Griffin III201313489037.6
Russell Wilson201716586336.6
Cam Newton201316585636.6
Cam Newton201814488434.9
Russell Wilson201516553134.6
Deshaun Watson201816551534.4
Kyler Murray201916544434.0
Russell Wilson201316539133.7
Michael Vick201210332133.2
Colin Kaepernick201316524432.8
Russell Wilson202016513232.1
Josh Allen201916510931.9
Colin Kaepernick20127415531.9
Alex Smith201516498231.1
Russell Wilson201216489430.6
Daniel Jones202014423130.2
Mitchell Trubisky201814421330.1

In the table, rushing numbers are adjusted for several players who had significant rushing contributions in non-starts. So for Lamar Jackson (in 2018) and Taysom Hill last season, their rushing numbers in games started by Joe Flacco and Drew Brees are ditched, as are Hurts' rushing numbers in games started by Wentz.

But any way you slice it, Hurts is going to be a very productive runner. With most fantasy leagues richly rewarding such production, no one should sleep on the potential of him being a valuable player in 2021.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index