Eagles’ Jalen Hurts enters 2025 with sixth different play-caller in six seasons; how QB fared with each option

PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts is no stranger when it comes to entering as NFL season with a different play-caller. While it’s not a situation Hurts has enjoyed, he’s certainly embraced the adversity.

Hurts had another one-and-done offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore last season, as Moore left Philadelphia to become the head coach of the New Orleans Saints after calling plays for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024. 

To replace Moore, the Eagles promoted from within, hiring Kevin Patullo to be the offensive coordinator and play-caller. An assistant head coach and the passing game coordinator in his five seasons with the Eagles, Patullo will be the sixth play-caller for Hurts in six NFL seasons. 

This offensive change is nothing new for Hurts, who has certainly had his fair share of different play-callers since high school. The Eagles quarterback has now had 12 play-callers in his 10 seasons at the college and professional level, an astonishing amount for any quarterback.

Essentially, Hurts is a victim of his own success. 

Hurts play-callers — since freshman year at Alabama (2016)

Despite all the coaching changes,  Hurts has still compiled an 89-20 record as a full-time starter in college and the NFL. He’s made the playoffs in all of those seasons, with four title game appearances, a top-two finish in the MVP and Heisman Trophy voting and a Super Bowl championship with a Super Bowl MVP. 

During his six seasons with the Eagles, Hurts only has one season with a repeat play-caller. In his second season with Shane Steichen calling plays (2022), Hurts was runner-up for NFL MVP, showcasing how good the Eagles quarterback can be with a full offseason in an offensive system.

Even with having to learn a new system nearly every offseason, Hurts has won regardless. The Eagles have made the playoffs every year with Hurts as the starting quarterback and have a 46-20 record with Hurts as the starter. The .697 win percentage is fifth best by a starting quarterback since the 1970 merger. 

Hurts has upped his game in the postseason, completing 66.8% of his passes with 10 touchdowns to three interceptions with a 95.4 passer rating. He also has 10 rushing touchdowns in the postseason — an NFL record for a quarterback. Hurts is the only player in NFL history with 10 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in the postseason. 

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And then there’s the multiple Super Bowl records Hurts set or matched in leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs this past February: 

• Most total touchdowns in a quarterback’s first two Super Bowl starts (seven)
• Sixth player all time with 3+ total touchdowns in multiple Super Bowls
• Second quarterback with a 70% completion rate and 3+ total touchdowns in multiple Super Bowls (Tom Brady is the other)
• Most rushing yards by a quarterback in Super Bowl history (72), breaking his own record of 70 in Super Bowl LVII. Hurts has the two highest single-game rushing yardage totals by a quarterback in Super Bowl history. 
• Fourth quarterback to win Super Bowl after losing first Super Bowl start (Len Dawson, Bob Griese, John Elway)
• Third quarterback to start and win a college football national championship and a Super Bowl (Joe Namath, Joe Montana)
• First quarterback to defeat Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs not named Joe Burrow or Tom Brady. Mahomes was previously 15-0 against quarterbacks not named Burrow or Brady. 
• First quarterback to win Super Bowl drafted after Patrick Mahomes (2018 or later). 

This is all in spite of having a different play-caller in every season Hurts has played in the NFL, continuing the trend from college at Alabama and Oklahoma. While Hurts has had his fair share of play-callers in the NFL, who has he had the most success with since entering the league? 

1. Kellen Moore (2024)

Hurts and Moore were an electric duo in their one year together, winning a Super Bowl. Hurts completed 68.7% of his passes for 2,903 yards with 18 touchdowns to just five interceptions, finishing with an 103.7 passer rating (career highs in completion rate and passer rating). He also rushed for 630 yards and 14 touchdowns. 

In the postseason, Hurts completed 71.4% of his passes for 726 yards with five touchdowns to just one interception for a 108.6 passer rating. Hurts won Super Bowl LIX MVP after completing 77.3% of his passes for 221 yards with two touchdowns and an interception (119.7 rating) while rushing for 72 yards and a score. 

The postseason with Moore was a masterclass, but so was Hurts in the clutch. Hurts was incredible in the fourth quarter of games since the Eagles’ bye week (Week 5), completing 37 of 45 passes (82.2%) for 471 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions — an NFL-leading 132.5 passer rating. He also had five rushing touchdowns in that stretch, having as many total touchdowns (8) as incompletions (8) during that stretch.

Hurts completed 85 of 117 passes (72.6%) in the second half of games since that bye week (Week 6), throwing for 1,208 yards with seven touchdowns to zero interceptions for a league-leading 125.6 passer rating. Hurts also had 269 yards rushing and 10 rushing touchdowns in that stretch. His 17 total touchdowns to zero giveaways in the second half of games since the first week of October were as clutch as it gets. 

Then came the conference championship game and Super Bowl, where Hurts completed 37 of 50 passes (74%) for 463 yards and three touchdowns to one interception between those two games. Hurts had a 114.3 passer rating and averaged 9.3 yards per attempt in those games. That’s not including his 88 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns.

While it took Hurts and Moore a few games to get going, they were clicking on all cylinders after the bye week. Moore has been the best play-caller Hurts had since he arrived in Philadelphia. 

2. Shane Steichen (2021-2022)

Steichen was arguably Hurts’ best play-caller in his Eagles’ career, and the only one Hurts had in consecutive years. The results from 2021 to 2022 paid massive dividends for Hurts. 

Hurts had a huge year in 2022 to show he was the Eagles’ franchise quarterback. He completed 66.5% of his passes for 4,280 yards with 25 touchdowns to just six interceptions for a 100.8 passer rating in his 18 starts (including playoffs), while also having 903 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. Hurts reached 5,183 total yards and 43 total touchdowns to just seven turnovers in his 18 starts, as the Eagles were 16-2 in those starts. He’s the first player in NFL history to post a 100+ passer rating and have 10+ rushing touchdowns in a season. 

Hurts had one of the best games of his career in the Super Bowl LVII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, completing 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards with a touchdown and a 103.4 passer rating. He also added 15 carries for 70 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first quarterback to rush for three touchdowns in a Super Bowl. Hurts was the first player in NFL history with 300 pass yards, 70 rush yards and three rushing touchdowns in a game. He finished with 374 total yards and four touchdowns.

Runner-up in MVP voting in 2022, Hurts’ performance helped land Steichen a head-coaching job. Hurts became a star with Steichen calling the plays. 

3. Brian Johnson (2023)

Hurts had Johnson for one season as his play-caller and was expected to pick up where he left off in 2022, especially since the two had a long-standing relationship prior to the Eagles. Turns out, Johnson was the only head coach who got fired that had a full season with Hurts. 

Hurts was plagued by turnovers in that 2023 season, committing 20 in the 17 regular-season games (15 interceptions, five fumbles lost). The uncharacteristic giveaways affected his play, as Hurts completed 61.1% of his passes for 1,161 yards with five touchdowns to five interceptions for a 77.6 passer rating in the final six games. Hurts also had 195 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns (4.5 yards per carry), as the Eagles went 1-5 to close the season after a 10-1 start. 

For the season, Hurts completed 65.4% of his passes for 3,858 yards with 23 touchdowns to 15 interceptions for an 89.1 passer rating. Hurts also rushed for 605 yards and 15 touchdowns. 

This season was the outlier for Hurts rather than the norm, justifying the Eagles parting ways with Johnson and taking the offensive reins away from Nick Sirianni as a result. 

4. Nick Sirianni (2021)

Hurts has worked in Sirianni’s offense during most of his tenure with the Eagles, yet only had Sirianni as his play-caller for early in his first season as the Eagles starting quarterback. Sirianni selflessly gave up calling plays in his first season as the Eagles head coach, hard for any first-year head coach to relent. 

Sirianni wanted to manage the game better, which is why he gave up play-calling duties. Believed to have given up the play-calling duties prior to week 7, Hurts completed 62.5% of his passes for 1,480 yards with eight touchdowns to four interceptions for an 88.6 passer rating in those six games. He also rushed for 300 yards and five touchdowns. 

Sirianni handed off the play-calling duties to Steichen and turned the season around, along with Hurts’ trajectory as a starting quarterback. Hurts completed 60.3% of his passes for 1,664 yards with eight touchdowns to five interceptions in his nine games with Steichen in 2021, compiling an 85.9 passer rating. He also rushed for 484 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. The Eagles went 6-3 in those nine games. 

5. Doug Pederson (2020)

Hurts wasn’t with Pederson long enough to have quantified success, as he was drafted to be the backup quarterback to Carson Wentz and develop in the Eagles system. There were no plans for Hurts to start in 2020 (barring injury) or for him to be the next franchise quarterback. 

Wentz struggled in a disastrous seaosn for the Eagles, which was also the COVID season, prompting him to lose his job to Hurts. The rookie earned the final four starts of the season, completing 51.9% of his passes for 919 yards with five touchdown to three interceptions and a 77.2 passer rating. Hurts also rushed for 272 yards with three touchdowns (5.9 yards per carry) as the Eagles went 1-3 in those starts. 

Pederson was fired after the season, and the Eagles moved forward with Hurts as their starting quarterback after Wentz decided he didn’t want to play in Philadelphia anymore. The Eagles may have seen enough to go forward with Hurts for the 2021 season with a new play-caller.