Can a Jalen Hurts-led Eagles team compete in the NFC East?

The life of a young quarterback in the NFL can often be difficult, and Jalen Hurts is finding that out the hard way in Philadelphia.

The young Eagles quarterback played in three national championship games in college at the University of Alabama and also made the College Football Playoff upon transferring to Oklahoma.

But winning — and individual success — have not come as easily for him early in his NFL career.

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After a 41-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, the Eagles are 1-2 on the season and losers of consecutive games.

Although Hurts recorded his highest passing yards total in a game this season (326), he also threw two interceptions and struggled to get the Eagles' offense going in the right direction for a majority of the game.

Hurts' total QBR has decreased each game so far this season, reaching rock-bottom at 8.9 against the Cowboys.

These struggles have Colin Cowherd ready to send in the verdict on Hurts as an NFL starter, as he explained on "The Herd."

"What I see is a marginally accurate quarterback," Cowherd said. "He's athletic, but he doesn't like to get hit. He's out after his first read. With Jalen Hurts, I just don't see the pocket awareness. I see he bails too fast. Not a big guy, not terribly accurate.

"For me, I don't see it."

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Marcellus Wiley expressed similar concerns. 

"Is Jalen Hurts greater than the greatest excuse is — which are his personnel, the players around him, the playcalling, his circumstances?" he asked. "I don't know."

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Hurts is in his second season in the NFL but has started only seven games — an undeniably small sample. And when comparing his first seven starts to those of the two longest-tenured starting QBs in the NFC East — Dak Prescott and Daniel Jones — Hurts is in the same ballpark as far as individual productivity.

Through seven starts, Hurts has a 2-5 record. He has completed 57.6% of his passes for 1,841 yards, 11 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 86.1 passer rating. He also has 533 rushing yards and four rushing TDs.

Prescott through seven starts was 6-1. He completed 65.2% of his passes for 1,773 yards, nine TDs, two interceptions and a 99.6 passer rating. He had four rushing touchdowns but only 105 yards on the ground.

For Jones, it was a 2-5 record and 62.5 completion percentage. He racked up 1,659 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions and posted an 82.8 passer rating for the New York Giants, with 183 rushing yards and two rushing scores.

Prescott has gone on to become a model of consistency for the Cowboys, winning the NFC East in 2016 and 2018, being named Offensive Rookie of the Year and never yet posting a losing season as the Cowboys' starter.

Jones, on the other hand, is 8-21 in his career as a starter, which includes an 0-3 start this season. He has yet to win more than five games in a season.

Will Hurts follow in the footsteps of Prescott or Jones? 

A full season might give us a more complete answer.

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