Jalen Hurts

Blake Barnett started the first game against the USC Trojans, but by the second game, Hurts had taken over the starting role, becoming the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Alabama in 32 years (Vince Sutton in 1984 was the last).

Hurts produced a historic freshman season under head coach Nick Saban.

He threw for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions.

His completion percentage was at 62.8 percent, and he finished the season with a quarterback rating of 139.12.

He rushed for a total of 954 yards and 13 touchdowns, breaking the school single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback, surpassing Steadman Shealy's previous record of 791 yards.

Jalen Alexander Hurts (born August 7, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL).

Although Texas A&M made a strong push to recruit Hurts, Hurts committed to the University of Alabama on June 5, 2015.

He was recruited by Alabama's defensive line coach Bo Davis and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.

In addition to football, Hurts participated in powerlifting.

As a sophomore in high school, Hurts was squatting 500 pounds of weight and would eventually become regional finalist in the 198-pound weight class.

Throughout his high school career Hurts was rated as a four-star recruit and was ranked among the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the Class of 2016.

As a true freshman for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team in 2016, Hurts competed to open the season as the starting quarterback.

He finished the 2016 season with 36 overall touchdowns breaking the previous record for touchdowns in a single season for the Crimson Tide (35) set by Blake Sims in 2014.

Hurts became the first quarterback coached by Nick Saban to rush for more than 11 touchdowns in a single season.

He was the first player in Alabama history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game and the first quarterback to rush for 120 yards or more in multiple games.

In the Iron Bowl game against Auburn, Hurts completed 75% of his passes, which set a new Iron Bowl record.

Alabama concluded its 2016–2017 regular season with a perfect 12–0 (8–0 SEC) record.

On November 30, 2016, Hurts was declared one of the ten finalists for the Manning Award, which is given to the nation's top college quarterback.

On December 3, 2016, he led his team to win the 2016 SEC Championship over the Florida Gators and was subsequently named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, and received Freshman All-American from several publications.

Hurts was featured on the cover page of Sports Illustrated College Football Playoff magazine on December 6, 2016.

On January 9, 2017, top-seeded Alabama lost the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship against the Clemson Tigers by a score of 35–31.

The bowl game was played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

In 2017, Hurts led the Tide to an 11–1 regular season record, losing 26–14 to Auburn in the regular season finale.

Hurts finished the 2017 season with 2,081 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, and one interception to go along with 855 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.

After Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to victory in the National Championship the year before, questions arose if Hurts would remain the starting quarterback for Alabama.

In the season opener against Louisville, Tagovailoa was the starter.

Hurts came into the game in a rotation.

He played his first three seasons of college football at the University of Alabama, where he made two consecutive College Football National Championship appearances and was a member of the team that won the 2018 title.

The Tide still qualified for the College Football Playoff as the #4 seed, where they played Clemson in the 2018 Sugar Bowl semifinal.

Hurts was the offensive MVP in that game, with Daron Payne being the defensive MVP in a 24–6 win over the Tigers.

Going up against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, Alabama fell behind 13–0 at halftime, and Hurts was benched in favor of true freshman Tua Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to a come-from-behind 26–23 victory in overtime.

Hurts used his final year of eligibility at the University of Oklahoma where he quarterbacked the Oklahoma Sooners to the 2019 Big 12 Conference title and an appearance in the 2019 College Football Playoff.

At Oklahoma, Hurts was a finalist for the 2019 Heisman Trophy, finishing second in the voting.

Selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, Hurts became their starter near the end of his rookie season.

He had a breakout season in 2022 when he led the Eagles to their conference's top seed and an appearance in Super Bowl LVII, earning him Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors.

Hurts attended Channelview High School in Channelview, Texas.

Hurts's father, Averion, was the football coach at Channelview High School throughout his son's high school career.

As a senior, he passed for 2,384 yards with 26 touchdown passes and rushed for 1,391 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Hurts was a second-team all-district selection as a sophomore and was named the District 21-6A Overall MVP as a junior during his high school playing years.