Oddsmakers Give Jalen Hurts Good Odds To Start Game Rookie Year

• Jalen Hurts has -115 odds to start a game for the Philadelphia Eagles this season.
• After being drafted in the second round, many questioned the Eagles’ pick, who have QB Carson Wentz under contract until 2024.

PHILADELPHIA – What exactly is the Philadelphia Eagles plan for Jalen Hurts?

It is a question that many have been pondering since the team selected Hurts with Pick 53 in the second round of last April’s draft.

No one was shocked to see Hurts taken in the second round, but many were perplexed by the team that chose him. The Eagles were not one of the teams projected to take a quarterback in the early rounds of the draft, and from a distance, were thought to have their QB position under control.

Carson Wentz is supposedly the man in Philly, and is currently under a $137.25 million contract that has him in green until 2024.

So then why are oddsmakers giving Hurts strong odds to start a regular season game in Philly?

The most apparent reason for former Alabama turned Oklahoma star to end up starting a game would be due to injury.

Carson Wentz has missed eight starts over the last four years with a few different injuries, most notably in the 2018 Eagles Super Bowl run.

He did however start all 16 games for the birds last season, but the statisticians at Sports Injury Predictor give Wentz a 39.8% chance of injury in 2020.

The Eagles likely took Hurts in an attempt to bring a high character individual into the QB room, who can become a stable backup and possibly work into some flex packages in certain scenarios.

After all, Hurts was a Heisman runner-up and national champion who compiled a 38-4 record as a starter in college.

While Hurts was always criticized as a passer, he always managed to make the throws he needed in order to put his team in a place to win. On the ground, he is nothing short of electric, racking up 3,274 yards and 43 Touchdowns across his college career.

The exact reasons the Eagles selected Hurts will remain unknown, but Super Bowl ready NFL teams do not make high profile decisions like this without a plan.

As he has shown in the past, all Jalen Hurts needs is an opportunity, even if that first start comes in Week 17.