NFL insider says Jalen Hurts “WILL be on the field” for the Eagles in 2020 and maybe even “as a straight running back”

Earlier today, I wrote about the report that says the Philadelphia Eagles are planning to implement a “Taysom Hill [package] on steroids” when it comes to utilizing Jalen Hurts.

NFL insider Mike Garafolo further touched on this topic on Monday afternoon.

“And, really, I do think the fact that they’re going to utilize him right now ... I know we’re talking about Taysom Hill but Jalen Hurts will be in his own, unique role. He WILL be on the field this upcoming season and, the Eagles hope, for the next four years as a guy who can contribute to the offense other than a quarterback. They’re hopeful they won’t need him as a quarterback because they means Carson Wentz is healthy and on the field.”

“And just in talking to one Eagles source, he said ‘This guy might be able to contribute as a straight running back. That’s how good we think he is. That’s what we think of his skill set.’

“So, it’s going to be really interesting to watch how they utilize Hurts and Howie Roseman telling me that ‘I stand by this man.’ They believe that much in him. And also Carson Wentz. I mean, that’s the biggest key. Knowing that your quarterback is going to be able to handle the fact that Jalen Hurts, a guy with a skill set like that, is going to be there contributing. In a city like that. backup quarterback’s always popular. Jalen Hurts could be pretty popular, too, trust me.”

Speaking after the Hurts pick and then again after Day 3, Doug Pederson was pretty insistent that Hurt is a quarterback first. But he did not rule out using Hurts in creative ways. Using the second-round pick as a straight up running back would certainly be ... interesting.

Garafolo also touched on a previously unknown tidbit that Roseman recently revealed. The Eagles’ general manager claims Philly was planning to draft both Russell Wilson AND Nick Foles in the 2012 NFL Draft. Roseman brought this up to illustrate why the Eagles felt the need to take Hurts at No. 53 and not risk missing out on him like they did with Wilson.

“I was with Coach [Andy] Reid back in 2012 and, Mike, I don’t know if this has been reported, but, we had this plan. We had this plan that we were going to go into it where we had a quarterback who is now playing really successful in another place [Wilson], and a quarterback who’s won a world championship in our place [Foles], and we would get both of them. And we tried to get a little cute. We figured out the difference between the second and third rounds ... and I feel like my lesson that I learned from that is: What is the difference between taking a guy in the second round, third round, if you get a guy who’s an important player to your football team? And so, you know, we talk about ‘This guy wouldn’t have been there’ when we picked in the third round. And we believe in our quarterback [Wentz], we surrounded him with a tremendous amount of weapons, we want to protect him, we want to make sure that he has everything at his disposal to win a world championship. But we also believe in that position.”

The Eagles had two second-round picks in 2012 but they used them on Mychal Kendricks and Vinny Curry. It seems like the plan, then, was to take Wilson in the third before getting Foles in the fourth. But with Wilson going off the board to the Seattle Seahawks, the Eagles had to take Foles in the third as to not miss out on both players.

Roseman clearly wanted to make sure the Eagles got Hurts, even if it meant “reaching” to get him. He accomplished that much.

Now it’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles use the No. 53 overall pick on the field.