“Jalen Hurts was the Most Impressive Quarterback from Week One”

By: jrd@ii

One of the main influences in the decision for Jalen Hurts when it came to choosing a new school was his desire to put himself in the position to increase his draft stock and help develop into a better 2020 NFL Draft prospect. His choice was a first-class one for the veteran national champ (1-2 in 3 appearances) based on what we saw in week one. But, he has quite some high expectations following in the footsteps of Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, who obviously both won the Heisman back to back the last 2 years and went on to be the first picks in the draft. Clearly, Lincoln Riley has a talent when it comes maximizing his quarterbacks potential and putting them in a situation to win the Heisman. Jalen Hurts ultimately was able to win the job and put himself in the prime position to do so. If he does, Oklahoma would break Ohio State and Archie Griffin’s record that the school is currently tied with for most consecutive Heisman trophy winners. (2)

Hurts’ ability to throw the football downfield has significantly improved since he won the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman in 2016. If the No. 4 Sooners’ season-opening victory against Houston showed us anything, it was that the Sooners are not planning to leave him in the pocket. QB run plays were not only a part of the blueprint heading into the season opener, but were very satisfactory as Hurts had a career day from the field. He was 20-23 with 332 yards in the air and three touchdown passes and rushed for an additional 176 yards, 16 carries and another 3 touchdowns as he eclipsed a career-high of 508 total offensive yards. If another Sooner QB wins another consecutive Heisman, they might have to rename it, “The Lincoln Riley Trophy.”