Throughout 2019, Jalen Hurts described his college football journey as “unprecedented.”

He was right that no one expects to see a dominant starting quarterback get benched at halftime of the national championship game and then return the following season as the backup. It just so happened that Hurts’ backup year was in 2018, the first season of the NCAA’s new redshirt policy that allows players to participate in up to four games without counting the season against their four years of eligibility. Some wondered if Hurts might only play in up to four games to preserve an extra season of eligibility, but he was a team player, memorably coming off the bench to guide the Tide to an SEC Championship Game comeback victory for the ages. Now, after three seasons at Alabama and one at Oklahoma, Hurts is off to the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles as the No. 53 overall pick in Round 2.

This past season, Lamar Jackson showed that running quarterbacks not only have a place in the NFL – they can be MVP. Patrick Mahomes, another recent MVP winner, shows on a weekly basis what can happen when a quarterback is mobile and can make throws on the run. Taysom Hill regularly demonstrates that athletic quarterbacks can be used as multi-position gadget weapons.

A quarterback with the ability to make plays with his feet is how Nick Saban pitched Hurts as a potential pro at this year’s Senior Bowl:

“There’s a lot of guys playing in the NFL now that are having a lot of success that are similar style players to Jalen, guys that can make plays with their feet,” Saban told reporters. “I think you know who they are. I think the success of those players has kind of broken the stereotype of, you got to be a dropback passer and this is the only way you can win in the NFL. You see Mahomes, the guy in Baltimore (Jackson), all these guys are athletic guys who make plays with their feet.”

This time, the precedent has been set. Now it’s time to see what Hurts can do with the Eagles.