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USATSI

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has blossomed into one of the NFL's best at his position since being selected 53rd overall in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, earning 2022 Second Team All-Pro honors and being named the NFL MVP runner-up. He was one of only four quarterbacks with 35 or more total touchdowns, joining 2022 NFL MVP and Super Bowl LVII opponent Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs as well as Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow and Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen

However, Hurts' success in the City of Brotherly Love almost never came to fruition, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. The Eagles reportedly were all set to select now-Carolina Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn given that the team was coming off an NFC East title in the 2019 season with quarterback Carson Wentz. The voice in the Philadelphia draft war room who reportedly swayed the Eagles toward selecting the Oklahoma quarterback was none other than general manger Howie Roseman. 

With Wentz suffering a concussion in the team's wild card round loss that concluded the 2019 NFL season on top of the torn ACL that ended his 2017 season, perhaps those injuries may have led to Roseman believing the selection of Hurts was necessary. The general manager defended the pick a few years ago, saying it was an effort to solidify the Eagles as a "quarterback factory." Hurts finished his rookie year by starting the team's final four games of the season, and Philadelphia turned over the team to him after trading Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts in the 2021 offseason. 

The Panthers ended up selecting Chinn, one of their current starting safeties, 11 picks later with the 64th overall selection.