Weapon X Mailbag: Is Jeffrey Lurie meddling too much?

Is it April 29 yet? Let’s get to the questions...

@BGNGifGuy: With Jeffrey Lurie coming out saying “no QB competition”: do you think it is because the whole of Eagles management (from coach to owner) is confident in Jalen, that they see this upcoming season as a wash so it doesn’t matter, or (more likely) something in-between?

@IrishIggles: I am, much like yourself, delighted to see that Hurts looks like he’ll be the starter, but are you concerned about Lurie’s supposed meddling with the roster?

These questions are essentially intertwined, so I’ll take them both at once.

On the latest episode of From the Bleachers for BGN Radio (which you can also view on BGN YouTube channel...), I went in on the way Jeffrey Lurie is handling football operations. It’s undeniable that Lurie’s tenure as the owner of the Eagles has been a success, but fans of the team should be increasingly concerned with how Jerry Jones-like he’s getting when involving himself with roster construction.

Lurie, according to reports from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and Tim McManus, respectively, is all in on Jalen Hurts as the Eagles’ QB1 for 2021 and was leading the charge to draft him last year. An owner should be hiring a football mind he trusts to run the football side of the organization. He clearly loves Howie Roseman, but why not let him actually handle all these decisions? That’s his job!

I love Hurts and believe the plan to roll with him in 2021 is the right move. Even if that turns out to be true, it’s bad process when there isn’t a clear, succinct chain of command for the franchise. The most dysfunctional organizations stem from errors at the top. I’m not ready to call the Eagles wholly dysfunctional given, again, the success they’ve had during the Lurie era, but the optics are quite bad right now.

As for why Lurie is in on Hurts, the truth is boring and somewhere in between, as Norm noted in his question. Given the enthusiasm to draft Hurts in 2020 despite Carson Wentz and his massive contract still on the roster, Lurie obviously believes in Hurts as a player. Maybe he doesn’t love any of the quarterbacks who could be reasonably available with the sixth pick and, in turn, rolls the dice with Hurts for 2021. If Hurts is good, well, the problem worked itself out. If not, the team will likely be bad enough to grab a top quarterback in 2021 with the added ammo of the Colts’ first-round selection via the Wentz trade.

I’m a Jalen Hurts guy, but perhaps there’s no bigger Hurts guy out there than Lurie himself.

@Devin_luke7: What players in the 2021 NFL Draft will build a good foundation around Hurts and why?

It’s all about nailing that first-round pick with a game-changing offensive talent. Whether it’s a pass-catcher like Ja’Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, or Kyle Pitts or an offensive tackle like Penei Sewell, hitting on that dude changes the complexion of the Eagles’ attack as early as this year.

The team was disastrous offensively in 2020, but with an improved Hurts, Miles Sanders back, an unleashed Dallas Goedert, and a breakout campaign from one of those rookie playmakers, you can kinda squint and see a decent offense, right?

As for guys potentially available on Day 3 (I think they should go all defense on Day 2), receivers like Clemson’s Amari Rodgers and South Carolina’ Shi Smith and backs like Louisville’s Javian Hawkins or Louisiana’s Elijah Mitchell would be prime grabs.

@NadBlessAmerica: How long until Kyle Lowry is home and Hurts is sitting courtside?

Now this is the spice I need!

For all you lifelong SB Nation heads, you may know I wrote for Liberty Ballers for years, so I’m as crazy about the Birds as I am the Sixers. Kyle Lowry is a six-time All-Star and NBA Champion point guard for the Toronto Raptors who’s from North Philly and went to Villanova. The Sixers NEED to trade for him to win a championship.

I’m such a sucker for Philly athletes pandering to the fans, hanging out, taking photos together, etc. I went to the first Sixers game home game after the Birds won the Super Bowl (T.J. McConnell recorded a triple-double that night) and it felt like the Grammy Awards with how star-studded the crowd was.

Hurts dapping up Lowry after a back-breaking three against the Nets in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Nets?!?!?! Hurts rocking that Moses Malone Mitchell & Ness throwback jersey while Brandon Brooks is chilling next to him in an Allen Iverson t-shirt? SIGN ME UP. INJECT IT INTO MY VEINS. PHILLY FOREVER. YOU CANNOT STOP US.

@pmcdaid35: If Greg Ward throws a trick play TD to Ja’Marr Chase first game of the season, is it okay for me to be fully 100% back in on the Eagles being good this season. (I’ve spent the last 3 months saying I don’t like them anymore.)

Pat... I like where your head’s at. You know I’ve been calling for this play for years (and not in a meaningless Week 17 game), but, in a twist, I’m saying that you should not get too hype if that happens because it doesn’t signify that the Eagles’ have their true quarterback of the future aboard. If Jalen Hurts is the one who throws a 72-yard touchdown to Chase or Smith or Waddle or Pitts on the first drive of the season, then you should be irrationally 100 percent back in!