LA Chargers: Quarterbacks to draft if Tyrod Taylor starts in 2020
By Jason Reed
3. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
Every single year we see the same story that Jalen Hurts is currently going through. A highly-touted college quarterback starts to get picked apart, becomes extremely underrated and slips in the draft process as a result.
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These quarterbacks are often the mobile quarterbacks and Hurts fits that billing. Hurts is in a very similar situation to Lamar Jackson, who some NFL fans thought shouldn’t even be a quarterback in the NFL.
Granted, Jackson was still a first-rounder and is more gifted than Hurts, but we are seeing the same thing happening to Hurts with a lot of scouting reports knocking what he brings to the table.
The main argument with Hurts is that he a system quarterback that struggled in making decisions and was a one-target quarterback for Oklahoma. While some of that absolutely has merit, the “fallbacks” of Hurts’ game is something that absolutely could be coached up at the NFL level.
Not to mention that Hurts is a tremendous dual-threat quarterback who could make his job easier as a passer just by being such a threat in the running game. Imagine a backfield with Hurts and Austin Ekeler.
He is athletic, has a great arm and has proven success and great coaching at the college level at Alabama and Oklahoma. The best part is that the Chargers could probably scoop Hurts up in the fourth round, making him a massive bargain pick.
Is it a huge risk trusting the future of the team in Hurts instead of just going with the safer option in Justin Herbert? Absolutely. But if the Chargers want to go the way of the times and build a better team around the quarterback through the draft, then a sleeper selection like Hurts might be the best bet.
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It is risky, sure, but I absolutely would not be surprised if Tyrod Taylor started in 2020 and the LA Chargers took the risky route of Jalen Hurts.