With the NFL season starting week 2, fans are clamoring for more content surrounding the sport, as they anxiously wait for a new Monday Night every week.
With little noteworthy news aside from injury updates coming out due to the increasing proximity to the launch of the season, those hungry for more NFL content must settle for puff pieces such as player rankings and previews.
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To fill the void, The Ringer’s Steven Ruiz released his ranking of the quarterbacks heading into the upcoming year. While this type of analysis is always subjective and can easily be proven both right or wrong with time, there’s one placement in particular that raised a lot of eyebrows, and deservedly so.
Going through the top four spots on Ruiz’s list goes pretty predictably, with familiar names leading the way in Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert.
As the reader continues to skim through the top 10, though, one name is missing for far too long: that of MVP finalist, Jalen Hurts.
Ruiz has the gunslinger at 10, a shocking finish for a gunslinger who just led his team to a Super Bowl appearance and nearly brought home championship rings back to Philadelphia. While some of the quarterbacks above him are arguable, such as Lamar Jackson, and Trevor Lawrence, the others are seemingly indefensible in Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott.
| 2023 Stats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Mahomes | Yds | INT | TD |
 |
1 | 2 | |
| Josh Allen | Yds | INT | TD |
 |
3 | 1 | |
| Justin Herbert | Yds | INT | TD |
 |
0 | 1 | |
| Joe Burrow | Yds | INT | TD |
 |
0 | 0 | |
Purely based on advanced analytics alone, such as QB Rating, Hurts should have landed much higher than 10th. The eye test supports this stance as well, as there are few things that someone like Stafford or Prescott can do under center that Hurts can’t.
On the other hand, Hurts has several areas in which he easily outclasses both Stafford and Prescott and some of the other quarterbacks above him in Ruiz’s ranking.
Ruiz defends his placement of Hurts by mostly discrediting the Eagles quarterback’s ability to stand in the pocket and make plays without the use of his legs. This take seems outdated, as Ruiz mentions himself by pointing out Hurts’s improvement as a pocket passer throughout his career, as Hurts placed in the top three for nearly every pocket passer metric last season.
No, this feels much more like engagement bait, a purposefully included bad take meant to draw the ire of fans who will bring more eyeballs to Ruiz’s work.
#Eagles Jalen Hurts was ranked the 10th best quarterback in the #NFL by @theStevenRuiz of The @Ringer.
Absurd. pic.twitter.com/T89BQflj3f
— Philadelphia Eagles Central (@pheaglescentral) September 6, 2023
| Title: The Ringer places Jalen Hurts as 10th-best quarterback next season
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: Sep 12, 2023
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