ESPN released its annual quarterback rankings on Monday, and Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts landed outside the top 10. Not at No. 8. Not at No. 9. Outside the entire top 10, buried in the honorable mentions behind names like Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, and Drake Maye. If you’re an Eagles fan reading that and feeling your blood pressure spike, you’re not alone.

The list slots Josh Allen at No. 1, Patrick Mahomes at No. 2, then Matt Stafford, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson rounding out the top five. Fine. Those are elite quarterbacks with elite resumes. But then ESPN has Dak Prescott at No. 6, Justin Herbert at No. 7, Drake Maye at No. 8, Jared Goff at No. 9, and Caleb Williams at No. 10. Hurts doesn’t crack that group. And in the honorable mentions section, he sits below Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, and Lawrence.

Whoever assembled this list needs to be drug tested. I am so serious.

One bad season doesn’t erase a Super Bowl resume

Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you Jalen Hurts is a top-three quarterback. I’m not even going to argue he’s top five. There are legitimate conversations to be had about where he falls in that range, and I understand the arguments for guys like Allen, Mahomes, and Burrow ahead of him. But outside the top 10? Below Justin Herbert, who has won exactly nothing of significance in the NFL? Below Jordan Love? Below Drake Maye, who has started one full season? You cannot be serious.

The blurb ESPN included from an anonymous AFC offensive coach actually makes the case for Hurts better than anything I could write. The coach acknowledged it has been up and down, but said he is still betting on the Super Bowl credentials, the intangibles, and the toughness. That coach gets it. The people who made this list clearly do not.

I’ve run through Hurts’ accolades so many times this offseason that it feels redundant at this point. The Super Bowl appearance, the MVP-caliber seasons, the wins, the playoff success. One rough year, surrounded by coordinator turnover and locker room noise, and suddenly he’s an afterthought? That’s not analysis. That’s recency bias dressed up as a ranking.

The disrespect is nothing new

What I’ve come to realize is that Jalen Hurts is never going to get his respect from these national outlets. He could win three more Super Bowls in a row and they’d find a way to credit the defense or the running game or whatever excuse fits the narrative. But they will never take away what that man did in the Super Bowl a couple years ago, and they will never erase the sustained success he’s brought to Philadelphia.

And here’s the thing that nobody wants to talk about: I don’t think any other quarterback on that list has dealt with as much turnover at the offensive coordinator position as Hurts has. New systems, new play-callers, new terminology, over and over again. It’s like having a new CEO at your company every single year and then wondering why productivity dipped. The instability around him has been unfair, and he’s still managed to produce at a high level more often than not.

Now that A.J. Brown is out of the locker room, the Eagles are going to be more team-oriented and focused. Philadelphia has an actual competent coordinator coming in who can get this offense back on track, and I think people are about to be reminded just how good Hurts can be when the pieces around him are aligned.

Hurts is going to be motivated, driven, and playing with a chip on his shoulder the size of the Linc. And when we’ve seen that version of Jalen, it’s dangerous. So bookmark this one. Come back at the end of the season, because the Eagles are getting back on track and Hurts is going to be a massive reason why.