Why Jalen Hurts is the NFL star in the Super Bowl I never saw coming | Goodbread

Jalen Hurts is an NFL superstar.

Raise your hand if you saw it coming in his Alabama years.

I mean up high; reach for the sky so us doubters from 2017 can see you from the back of the room. No, for the record, my hand isn't up. And if yours is, congratulations − you saw something in the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl-bound quarterback that most didn't, and you can add a fine feather to your amateur scouting cap.

Or, you're lying.

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Hurts' last year as a full-time starter at Alabama was his sophomore year in 2017. A year later, he was relegated to the bench behind Tua Tagovailoa, and a year after that, he closed his college career by lighting up the scoreboard for 52 total touchdowns at Oklahoma. In Boomer Sooner Hurts, I saw a different quarterback, and my opinion of his pro potential took a turn.

But we're talking 2017 here. Crimson Tide Hurts.

And I'll be honest about what I saw: a fabulous athlete with a winner's intangibles, and a knack for clutch play late in close games, but also a guy who lacked the passing accuracy to be an NFL starter. I didn't question his height (6-foot-1) as some did, because the NFL had by then begun to embrace shorter quarterbacks. But at Alabama, I saw a guy who bailed out of the pocket a bit too quickly and a bit too often, and didn't hit receivers in stride consistently enough for what the pro game demands. He threw for under 150 yards in seven games that season, and for just 112 in a 26-14 loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Alabama's reliance on an excellent running game, for which Hurts was a big contributor, played a role in his underwhelming passing numbers, too.

I expected him to make a living in the NFL, but I saw him as more of a backup than a starter, and certainly not a contender for NFL MVP, as he was in his third pro season.

I was wrong.

The NFL didn't see MVP potential in him either, by the way. If it had, Hurts would've been drafted in Round 1, not Round 2. Pro scouts are mostly united in the conviction that college quarterbacks who lack accuracy don't generally make big improvements in that area as pros.

But that's precisely what Hurts has done.

He's been mostly unstoppable this season, and good for him, because the guy is an easy player to root for. Sometimes, it feels good to be wrong.

So if you're headed to a Super Bowl party anywhere in the state of Alabama on Sunday, listen closely. Strain your ears to cut through the conversational buzz, the hands rifling through chip bowls, the TV volume, and the guy in the room who got too thirsty too soon. You'll hear the "I knew Jalen would be great" guy.

Chances are, he wasn't too loud with that take in 2017.

As for me, I'm predicting a Hurts-led Eagles effort to win Super Bowl 57, overcoming Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes − the guy who beat Hurts out for NFL MVP − and bring a Lombardi Trophy to Philadelphia.

I'm done doubting.

Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Eagles' Jalen Hurts is the NFL Super Bowl star I never saw coming.