Duke football: Blue Devils should go after Jalen Hurts if available

Jalen Hurts’ father hinted at a possible transfer from his son if he loses the competition for the starting quarterback job at Alabama. If he transfers, David Cutcliffe and the rest of the Duke Football staff should be knocking at his door.

Let’s start this by stating the obvious, we do not know what will happen regarding the Alabama quarterback competition or if Jalen Hurts will transfer if he doesn’t win it, but if he does transfer, Duke should bring out all the stops.

When Avery Johnson became the Head Coach of the Alabama Basketball team, he had Nick Saban come on some recruiting trips with him and make phone calls to potential recruits.

If Jalen Hurts becomes available, Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe should use the same tactic with Mike Krzyzewski.

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Current starting quarterback for the Blue Devils, Daniel Jones, in entering his third year in Durham and it is very conceivable it will be his final year. Jones could be a prime candidate to leave Duke early for the NFL Draft next season which would leave the quarterback position open.

Hurts is a National Champion, and seconds away from being a two-time National Champion.

However, Hurts’ National Championship comes with an asterisk as he was pulled at the half in the win over Georgia.

Hurts was only completed three of eight passes for 21 yards and rushed six times for 47 yards.

The numbers don’t show how overmatched Hurts was against the stifling Georgia defense and Head Coach Nick Saban replaced him with Tua Tagovailoa.

Everyone knows the story and Tagovailoa went onto lead the comeback for ‘Bama and onto win the National Title game.

Saban said that he would not name a starting quarterback and that there would be an open competition, which hasn’t sat well with Hurts’ father, Averion.

In an interview with Bleacher Report, Averion Hurts said:

"“Coach Saban’s job is to do what’s best for his team. I have no problem with that,” Averion Hurts said. “My job is to do what’s best for Jalen—and make no mistake, Jalen is a quarterback, and he wants to play quarterback. He loves Alabama, loves Coach Saban and everything about that place. But he wants to play, and he will play…”Averion stops mid-sentence because the idea of his son not playing for Alabama isn’t one he takes lightly. What if Jalen doesn’t win the job, he is asked?He shakes his head slowly, answers begrudgingly. “Well, he’d be the biggest free agent in college football history.”"

Calling Hurts, the “biggest free agent in college football history” might be a bit of an exaggeration, but he would be greatly sought after.

Tua Tagovailoa currently has an injury to his throwing hand in which he had a setback on. He will not play in the Alabama spring game, but we do not more on his injury due to Nick Saban’s, Bill Belichick-ian way of revealing an injury report.

Should Tagovailoa recover from his injury in time for fall camp and win the starting job, and Hurts transfer, the Blue Devils should do anything they can to get him.

Hurts completed just under 62% of his passes in his two seasons at Alabama where he threw for 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Hurts is also an explosive threat on the ground where he has rushed for 1,809 yards for the Crimson Tide with 21 touchdowns as well.

Hurts is also a winner, the Tide have a record of 26-2 with Hurts calling the shots.

Playing at Duke would still allow Hurts to get the exposure of playing major Division I football in a power conference like the ACC. He would face nationally ranked teams such as Miami and Virginia Tech, with the possibility of taking on Clemson in an ACC Title game, a team he has already faced twice in his career.

Hurts could also attract other transfers and recruits to Durham to play so they could play with such a well known and established player like himself. Should this all take place, Hurts would sit for this upcoming season and learn Coach Cutcliffe’s offense from Daniel Jones and set a tone and take on a leadership role from the sidelines. Once eligible, Hurts would be able to play for two seasons at Duke.

Again, by no means does this mean Hurts is going to transfer, but if he does, the Duke Blue Devils should be all over him, trying to get him to Durham.

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