On Tuesday, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham appeared on the 94WIP Morning Show to talk Birds with host Angelo Cataldi.
When asked about Jalen Hurts and the Eagles quarterback situation for next season, Graham spoke candidly. “I’m never sold because you never know,” said Graham. “You know, you just never know what the organization is thinking and which way they want to go. But, I do feel like he’s young. He’s somebody who comes in and works, and I think it’s all about who you put him with it. That’s really who it’s about, how you evolve as a player, the evaluation, every day what he goes through. I like what he brings to the table. It’s just all about playing to his strengths. I’m excited for this draft, see who we get and see what happens, but it’s never 100 percent, especially with Howie.”
Whenever BG speaks, we listen. Regardless of the substance.
With the ongoing quarterback debate in Philadelphia, it’s always interesting to hear what a current player has to say. BG has been around Hurts for two years now and he’s seen everything the fans haven’t.
Typically, whenever a player is asked about their current quarterback, they praise him and give nothing but support. Graham doesn’t do that here, which raises the question of whether the locker room is even sold on Hurts.
The one thing no one can take away from Hurts is his work ethic and leadership ability. It’s been on full display ever since he got to Philly, and it’s the No. 1 thing cited by any Hurts supporter. Graham made sure to talk about those qualities here, but that’s about it.
If us fans can see the shortcomings with Hurts, there’s no doubt that some of the players in the locker room recognize it too. Even when Carson Wentz didn’t live up to expectations following the 2017 season, nearly every teammate of his showered him with praise when asked about him. Of course you have the anonymous sources that spoke down on Wentz, but it was always clear that he was the face of the franchise.
In Wentz’s final year, the praise certainly wasn’t as frequent. But rarely did you hear anyone question his actual talent. His detractors always pointed toward bad tendencies and leadership issues. With Hurts, it’s the complete opposite. Everyone knows he has the mental makeup to be a franchise quarterback, while lacking almost all of the pure talent.
While it may seem like Hurts has the locker room behind him right now, all it takes is a few bad losses to lose some support. After his brutal outing against Tampa Bay during Wildcard Weekend, it was evident that Hurts still had a long way to go before becoming a legitimate NFL starter. BG probably isn’t the only teammate that recognizes this, he’s just the first to voice his opinion on it.
With a plethora of draft capital and a good amount of cap at his disposal, Howie Roseman will make some noise this offseason. If that noise is made on the quarterback market is still to be determined, but as BG says, “It’s never 100%, especially with Howie.”
Better title would of been “BG doesn’t trust Howie?”, but y’all needed some click bait I guess.