Jalen Hurts led his team to a Super Bowl, led his team to the current #1 spot in the NFC, and is a consensus front-runner for MVP this season. But one NFL analyst still thinks he should get benched.
David Carr, the first draft pick in the history of the Houston Texans and the brother of Saints QB Derek Carr, said Tuesday that the Eagles should consider benching Hurts until he is healthy.
“Clearly, Jalen isn’t comfortable reading through a defense in a drop-back pass scenario,” Carr said. “Some would say he’s not even good at it. And I think that when you look at this team, you have to have a serious conversation if you’re Philly. And you have to really say, ‘Is it better for us to play Marcus Mariota right now and let Jalen get fully healthy?’ Because I would argue that it does not matter if they’re the number one seed. Because if the 49ers come into Philly again, they do not care.”
Eagles should consider benching Jalen Hurts until he’s healthy enough to run more, says David Carr. Right now, Marcus Mariota would be more productive, Carr adds. VIDEO
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) December 6, 2023
For this take, Carr was resoundingly rebuked on X.
This can’t be a serious take. It’s nowhere near April Fools. https://t.co/fkUzGhlkK4
— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) December 6, 2023
This is it. THE worst sports take of all time. https://t.co/ew4T0W0Wjt
— Brenden Deeg (@BrendenDeeg_) December 6, 2023
What are we doing????? My goodness. https://t.co/dEwNuSy2Aj
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) December 6, 2023
And, of course, Carr was even accused of being racist.
After vigorously defending his mediocre brother, David Carr has decided to go the weird route.
Saying Jalen Hurts can’t read a defense is not only clownish, but taps into a stereotype. https://t.co/KIXeTwtcQY
— TequilaBiggs (@TequilaBiggs) December 6, 2023
The point about reading defenses aside, Carr is not saying here that Marcus Mariota is a better QB than Jalen Hurts. In fact, he insists that a 100% healthy Jalen Hurts is essential for Philly’s Super Bowl run. What he’s saying, given how Hurts was unable to execute the offense he traditionally runs with the Eagles on Sunday, which is an offense where he is asked to be a runner with the football at times, Mariota may be the better QB at this time because he can actually run the offense.
His point about holding on to the #1 overall seed also has merit. The 49ers just came to town last weekend and throttled the Eagles in front of their fans in their weather, and they would presumably be able to do it again. The point is, if Hurts can’t run the Eagles’ offense, they don’t have a shot of getting to the Super Bowl, regardless of what seeding they get. So, why not rest him and get him right for when the games really count?
It’s actually a very astute and sensical observation. But, unfortunately, X is where astute observations go to die.