During today’s press conference, new head coach Nick Sirianni gave an update regarding the QB position. Instead of annonting Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback, Sirianni confirmed the team will instead have an open competition for the QB1 title:
Eagles’ HC Nick Sirianni declined today to name Jalen Hurts his starting QB and instead said it will be an open competition.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 21, 2021
This news isn’t particularly surprising. During Sirianni’s opening press conference following his hiring, the coach preached the value of competition. He did it again today, stressing that every position should have competition.
Now, a competition can be a very good thing. This statement is telling Hurts he won’t be handed anything. He has to earn it. The problem is, will the competition he’ll be facing make him work hard?
Will This Competition Actually Be A Competition?
The biggest threat to Hurts is Joe Flacco. Flacco signed a $3.5 million contract with Philadelphia in late March. The former Super Bowl MVP is coming off a year where he threw for six touchdowns, three interceptions, and possessed a 80.6 quarterback rating (his lowest rating since 2017). Not the best year for the 36-year-old.
The point here is that Hurts might not have to do much in order to win the starting spot. The hope is that Flacco will end up being more of a mentor, rather than a guy who will be starting for the Eagles week one. If the latter scenario does end up happening, something will have gone horribly wrong.
There’s also a chance the Eagles bring in one or two QBs during and after the draft. They’ve previously shown interest in Mississippi St. QB K.J. Costello. Adding another man into this competition wouldn’t hurt at this point.
Sirianni Is Still An… Interesting Man
While we’re on the topic of today’s press conference, Sirianni also mentioned that the coaches have been playing rock, paper, scissors and Jeopardy with draft prospects in order to gauge their competitiveness and how they would fit into the Eagles’ environment (per Zach Berman).
On on hand, he is very energetic and is clearly trying new methods into building a close locker room that’s hungry for wins. That should obviously be a huge goal for a first-time HC.
On the other hand, Sirianni continues to come off as a very “high-school” kind of coach, and the gimmicky thing doesn’t always work out. It’s tough to say what we should expect out of Sirianni. We should get a better sense of his coaching style once training camp and preseason begins.
