It's late, but not too late, to start seriously considering Jalen Hurts for the Heisman
When you look at Jalen Hurts’ statistics, they might not look worthy of Heisman Trophy consideration on the surface. Look deeper, and you should come to realize just how much the sophomore quarterback does for Alabama’s offense.
Hurts’ 1,868 passing yards — which ranks outside the top 50 (No. 68) in the nation — misrepresents where Hurts is as a passer. His 14 passing touchdowns — which also ranks outside the top 50 (No. 53) — do too.
In order to provide context to those numbers, you have to look at the amount of playing time Hurts has missed due to Alabama blowing out opponents, and also the lack of attempts due to the Tide’s style of play.
Here’s a look at when Hurts was removed from each game Alabama has played this season.
- Florida State: played entire game
- Fresno State: 2:48 remaining in 3rd quarter
- Colorado State: 1:07 remaining in 3rd quarter
- Vanderbilt: 12:07 remaining in 3rd quarter
- Ole Miss: 12:43 remaining in 3rd quarter
- Texas A&M: played entire game
- Arkansas: 12:29 remaining in 4th quarter
- Tennessee: 12:39 remaining in 3rd quarter
- LSU: played entire game
- Mississippi State: played entire game
- Mercer: 13:26 left in 2nd quarter
That’s between 11 to 12 quarters that Hurts has missed — or just under three games.
People have often pointed to Hurts’ 18.2 passing attempts per game — which is barely inside the top 100 (No. 97) — as a sign that the coaching staff doesn’t trust him to throw it much, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you’re looking for evidence, point your attention to the Mississippi State game.
With the game tied at 24 with only 1:09 left in the game, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll trusted the arm of his quarterback. Hurts responded by completing 3 of 4 passes for 72 yards, including this game-winning 26-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith.
Jalen Hurts to Devonta Smith – 26-yd TD pass against Miss St pic.twitter.com/meus1Y2Tbs
— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) November 20, 2017
Two more statistics that better represent Hurts’ ability as a passer is his average yards per attempt (9.1) — 8th best in the country — and his QB rating (160.38) — good for 11th.
All of these things shed a positive light on Hurts’ passing game, but we haven’t even touched on his ability to get things done on the ground.
Let’s not forget how much time Hurts has seen watching from the sidelines due to blowouts, but he’s still managed to rush for 686 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2017 — the second most by a quarterback in the SEC.
He’s had three games with over 100 yards rushing, and he’s scored at least one touchdown in seven of the team’s 11 games.
Now, everything mentioned so far is excellent, but probably the most important statistic backing Hurts’ exceptional play has been the lack of turnovers from the sophomore this season.
Here’s a look at the touchdown-to-interception ratio for some of the top quarterbacks in the country:
- Baker Mayfield: 6.8 to 1
- J.T. Barrett: 4.6 to 1
- Lamar Jackson: 3.8 to 1
- Mason Rudolph: 3.7 to 1
- Will Grier: 2.8 to 1
- Sam Darnold: 2 to 1
- Khalil Tate: 1.1 to 1
Of those, Mayfield (1st), Tate (3rd), Jackson (4th) and Rudolph (7th) are on the Heisman Trophy watch list.
Entering the Iron Bowl, Hurts has a 14 to 1 ratio — more than doubling Mayfield’s 6.8 to 1. His lone turnover — that interception against Arkansas — was in Week 7, and Hurts hasn’t even come close to coughing up another one.
There will be some who try to argue that impressive ratio is due to the coaching staff limiting the chances he takes downfield, but Hurts has attempted 33 passes of 20-plus yards — an average of three per game.
He started the year only completing one of his first 18 attempts (5.6 percent) of 20 yards or more. Since then, he’s 10 for 15 (66.7 percent) — including 2 for 2 for 104 yards and a touchdown against Mercer this past Saturday.
If you want more proof of Hurts’ improvement, take a look at what head coach Nick Saban said on the Mike & Mike show last Thursday:
“I think what Jalen has done is he’s become a little more confident and a little bit more instinctive as a decision-maker in the passing game,” Saban said. “I think he’s athletic, he always has the ability to throw the ball, but he sort of had a built-in sense of ‘I can take off running any time I need to to get out of trouble.’
“So, that’s always sort of your escape mechanism rather than seeing a play through, reading a play through, hitting the open guy, and I think he’s gotten a little better at being a pocket passer, having a better pocket presence, making better decisions and we’ve made more plays throwing the ball down the field because of that.
“And I think that’s important, especially with the kind of skill players that we have that we need to have make plays for us.”
It’s clear that Hurts has shown tremendous improvement in a lot of areas, and those improvements have gone a long way in contributing to Alabama’s 11-0 start. He’s a leader who is loved by his teammates because of his cool temperament in big situations.
Whether it was LSU or Clemson last year — even though Alabama fell to Clemson in the national championship — or Mississippi State this season, Hurts always rises to the occasion.
This week’s test at No. 6 Auburn in the Iron Bowl will go a long way in determining how far Hurts has come. Like with the game against State, Hurts will be in a hostile environment, but he will be going against a much more formidable defense — the Tigers’ defense is top 10 in the country.
Heisman Trophy ballots are due Dec. 4.
It’s late, but not too late to consider Alabama’s MVP (he’s earned that). If he can come away with a big game against the instate rival on Saturday, he should be considered a favorite to land an invite to New York — at the very least.
