The debate over where Jalen Hurts ranks among the NFL’s best got another jolt this week, and it came from a familiar name. Former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho, who hosts the podcast “Speakeasy,” pushed back hard on the idea that Hurts belongs among the league’s elite after players voted him 56th on the NFL Top 100.
Acho’s take was blunt. Reacting to the notion that Hurts had been slotted too low, he argued the opposite, saying flatly that “Jalen Hurts ain’t getting drafted in the best 100” if the exercise were purely about the best football players. He allowed that adjusting for the scarcity of quality quarterbacks might change the math, but held that on talent alone Hurts sits well down the list.
The criticism is not new. Hurts spent last season answering questions about being too conservative as a passer, even while making his third Pro Bowl on the strength of 3,224 yards, 33 total touchdowns and just six interceptions as the Eagles won the NFC East. The offseason brought more noise, including anonymous reports characterizing him as difficult to coach and prone to changing calls at the line, along with questions about why Philadelphia had not handed him an extension.
The counterargument sits in his record. Across his Eagles tenure, Hurts has won better than 68% of his starts and reached two Super Bowls, winning one along with a Super Bowl MVP. That body of work has not fully quieted the skeptics outside Philadelphia, which is part of what makes 2026 a heavily scrutinized year for him.
The offense around him is changing as well. New play-caller Sean Mannion is installing a scheme built to stretch Hurts, leaning on more RPOs and pre-snap motion while pushing him to attack the middle of the field, all with one of the league’s more talented rosters at his disposal.
