Ex-Eagles CB Darius Slay doesn’t consider Jalen Hurts an ‘elite’ QB. Is he wrong?

Jalen Hurts helped the Philadelphia Eagles dominate in Super Bowl LIX, picking up MVP honors for the team’s 40-22 championship win over the Kansas City Chiefs. That said, should Hurts now be considered among the NFL‘s elite quarterbacks?

Not according to his former teammate and cornerback Darius Slay Jr.

Slay, who the Eagles are reportedly releasing, recently said that the “elite quarterbacks” in the sport are Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.

Is Slay off-base for not including Hurts? Chase Daniel doesn’t think so, revealing why on Friday’s edition of “The Facility.”

“If you poll 32 NFL teams and their starters and their executives and everyone that knows anything about actual quarterback play, they would say, ‘Yeah, the four elite quarterbacks are Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson,'” Daniel said. “[I’m] not saying that’s the order. That’s the debate. But to put Jalen Hurts in that category — I can’t. Quite honestly, I don’t know how anyone can because there’s been plenty of non-elite quarterbacks to win Super Bowls. Just because you win a Super Bowl or a Super Bowl MVP does not necessarily make you elite in the play of quarterback throughout the National Football League.

“Do you have elite levels of talent that you’re good at? Yeah, of course. [Hurts has] won a Super Bowl, but I would say that most players and most people that know football would be like, ‘They didn’t only win the Super Bowl because of Jalen Hurts.’ … For me, elite quarterbacks are — if you need to win the game, this guy can put your team on the back of him and go down there and win the game on your arm.”

Darius Slay leaves Jalen Hurts off his ‘elite’ quarterback list

The knock on Hurts’ success with the Eagles is because the franchise has been among the 10 most talented teams in the sport on a yearly basis. For example, running back Saquon Barkley, who the Eagles signed last offseason, set the combined NFL rushing record (regular season plus postseason) in 2024, logging 2,504 yards on the ground. On the other side of the ball, Philadelphia’s defense surrendered the fewest total yards (278.4 per game) and second-fewest points (17.8 per game) in the NFL. Philly had a combined six players receive a Pro Bowl nod; Hurts wasn’t one of them.

As for the quarterbacks mentioned by Slay, Burrow, a two-time AP Comeback Player of the Year, threw for an NFL-high 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns last season; Mahomes is a two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP who has thrown for 5,000-plus yards in a single season twice; Jackson is a two-time NFL MVP and three-time All-Pro; Allen, a three-time Pro Bowler, was the 2024 NFL MVP.

Nevertheless, Hurts, a two-time Pro Bowler, has played at a high level with the Eagles as both a passer and rusher. Over the past three seasons (2022-24), he has averaged 3,487 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 97.2 passer rating per season, while completing 66.7% of his passes. Meanwhile, over the past four seasons (2021-24), Hurts has rushed for 695 yards and 13 touchdowns per season. He’s second in Eagles history with 55 career rushing touchdowns.

The Eagles are 46-20 in the regular season and 6-3 in the postseason with Hurts under center, highlighted by making the Super Bowl in two of the past three seasons.

As for Slay, the 34-year-old spent the past five seasons with the Eagles (2020-24), earning three Pro Bowl nods and totaling a combined nine interceptions. Slay earned three more Pro Bowl honors across his seven seasons with the Detroit Lions from 2013-19.

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