DeSean Jackson: I knew Jalen Hurts was better than Carson Wentz all along

DeSean Jackson’s last reception as an Eagle was an 81-yard touchdown catch, fittingly, since Jackson holds the NFL record for TD catches of at least 60 yards. It was thrown by Jalen Hurts, and it gave the Eagles the lead against the Dallas Cowboys in Game 15 of the 2020 season.

At the time, Hurts was in his third career start. But, from preparation to practice play, Jackson knew Hurts was “him” long before that long-haul TD.

» READ MORE: The retiring DeSean Jackson, the most exciting Eagles star ever, made big plays — and big mistakes

In fact, Jackson was sure Hurts was better than franchise quarterback Carson Wentz far before Wentz’s fall from grace.

“I was lobbying for Jalen Hurts back when we had Carson Wentz starting,” Jackson said Friday. “I definitely saw ‘Jalen Hurts’ before what the world sees now.”

Jackson officially retired Friday, and did so as an Eagle, and held a press conference to reminisce about his greatness, and, as it turns out, his prescience.

The wide receiver was in the middle of his second stint with the Eagles when they selected Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft. With Wentz entrenched as the franchise quarterback it was a controversial pick, even given Wentz’s injury history.

”Everybody was, like, ‘Why would we pick Jalen Hurts in the second round?’” Jackson said.

Because of what Hurts showed Jackson early on. That’s why.

Jackson remembers how, after Hurts won the No. 2 job over veteran Nate Sudfeld as a rookie, Hurts was leading the second team against the first team in a preseason practice. He stood on the sideline with receiver Alshon Jeffery and general manager Howie Roseman as Hurts lit up the ones.

“I’m just seeing him slinging the ball, and he’s making crazy plays,” Jackson said. He pantomimed elbowing Roseman in the ribs: “I looked back at Howie and said, ‘Howie, I told you. That kid’s going to be special.’”

Wentz was the Eagles’ starter at that point, and he had just signed a four-year, $128 million extension that kept him under contract through 2024. But he lost the starting job to Hurts in Game 12, and he refused to return and compete with Hurts for the starting job in 2021, so the Eagles traded him to the Colts.

» READ MORE: Carson Wentz admits he planned his Eagles exit as soon as he was benched | Marcus Hayes

He has since bombed in Indianapolis and Washington. Wentz was out of football until November, when he signed with the Rams as Matthew Stafford’s backup.

As Wentz’s star fell, Hurts’ star rose. With Wentz out of the way, Hurts led the Eagles to the playoffs in 2021. He led them to the Super Bowl last season and finished runner-up in MVP voting. Today, the Birds sit at 10-1, in prime position to lock up the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC for the second year in a row, and Hurts is an MVP favorite again.

Jackson saw it coming before anybody else, up close and in person, long before Hurts ever took an NFL snap. In an era in which players routinely gather in the offseason for extra work, it was Hurts, not Wentz, who spent a week in Florida training with Jackson and 49ers receiver Ray-Ray McCloud.

“Back when I was here in 2020, we trained in the offseason. He came to Tampa, and everybody was like, ‘Why is Jalen Hurts training with DeSean Jackson? Why isn’t Carson Wentz out there training?’”

Wentz had hosted several young Eagles receivers in Texas earlier in June. Neither Jackson nor Jeffery attended. By then, Wentz had twice been accused by teammates of being selfish and uncoachable; maybe they figured they’d be wasting their time with him.

By contrast, Hurts’ maturity floored Jackson.

Since his breakout season in 2017, many NFL teammates and executives painted Wentz as an insecure bully from North Dakota State, which played in the FCS (Division I-AA).

By contrast, Jackson said, Hurts’ experience leading Alabama and Oklahoma and finishing runner-up for the 2019 Heisman Trophy helped make him an old soul, even at the age of 21.

“You could tell, him coming from Alabama, just how eager he was to win,” Jackson said. “He had an older mentality. It’s like he was, like, an uncle or an old father.”

Whereas Wentz was often overhyped, and played like it, Hurts’ blood was always cold, even as a rookie.

“The game was not too big,” Jackson said. “He was just walking around. Flipping the ball. Something’s special about him. It’s like he’s been here before.”

Jackson played for 15 seasons, eight of them in Philadelphia. He caught 35 touchdown passes as an Eagle, from Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Wentz, and, finally Hurts.

Assuming Hurts plays as many as McNabb’s 148 games as an Eagle, he is on pace to shatter McNabb’s mark of 244 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. Hurts has 99 total TDs in 56 games (45 starts), and projects to 264.

Now that he’s retired, Jackson, an honorary captain when the 49ers visit Sunday, says he’s going to be at Lincoln Financial Field more often, and can’t wait to see Hurts shine.

“I feel like he’s just starting. He’s going to be here for a long time,” Jackson said. “He’s going to have some special moments in Philadelphia.

“He’s QB1 for a reason.”

In Jackson’s eyes, maybe he should have been QB1 even sooner.