Jalen Hurd: Woeful Tale of Lost Opportunity

[knox73]

Interesting video - NIL and transfer portal could have helped the guy. Wonder what he is doing now?

 

[shane80]

So much talent. All had to do was finish his junior season at Tennessee and I think he would have had a better opportunity in the NFL.

 

[Hank Bukowski]

Butch Jones completely misused this kid (as he obviously did Kamara). And I don’t blame him a bit for leaving. Don’t like the way he did it but don’t blame him for bolting on Jones. I believe he eventually came to know Jones for the charlatan he is. Hurd would be Tennessee’s all-time leading rusher right now if Jones had used him properly.

 

[sami]

Butch Jones completely misused this kid (as he obviously did Kamara). And I don’t blame him a bit for leaving. Don’t like the way he did it but don’t blame him for bolting on Jones. I believe he eventually came to know Jones for the charlatan he is. Hurd would be Tennessee’s all-time leading rusher right now if Jones had used him properly.

Either that or he would have switched positions sooner. Point is that as good a recruiter as Jones may have been, he was a serial abuser of that talent once they were here. My guess is that if NIL and the portal were around at that time there would have been a conga line of players heading out the door, and Jones stay here would have been even shorter.

 

[95 Vol Alum]

So much talent. All had to do was finish his junior season at Tennessee and I think he would have had a better opportunity in the NFL.

He had an opportunity in the NFL. What could’ve been better about it by staying another year?

 

[Hank Bukowski]

He had an opportunity in the NFL. What could’ve been better about it by staying another year?

Well, maybe as Tennessee’s all-time leading rusher, he would have made more money by being drafted higher than the third round? More than $870K his first year? Who knows?

 

[Zues1]

Didn't he change positions only to end up back at running back at Baylor

 

[95 Vol Alum]

Well, maybe as Tennessee’s all-time leading rusher, he would have made more money by being drafted higher than the third round? More than $870K his first year? Who knows?

And maybe, given his propensity to get injured, he’d have gotten nothing? Stats don’t get you draft position as much as age, measurables, and physical attributes do.

Injuries killed his career not his college stuff.

 

[wmcovol]

The guy quit on his team in the middle of the game. Screw him.

 

[n_huffhines]

My thought from day 1 on Hurd was basically this guy is an awesome force and I like watching him run the ball, but he's not a running back and we're doing him a disservice playing him at RB.

I have been wrong on this sort of thing, so not trying to be a know-it-all. Just trying to say it seemed obvious he didn't have the punch for the NFL, he had a perfect body for playing H-Back/TE/Slot, and could've avoided a lot of punishment. Baylor knew what to do with him.

 

[n_huffhines]

Didn't he change positions only to end up back at running back at Baylor

Not as I recall. I remember him getting a zillion catches at Baylor, but memory is faulty.

edit:

 

[Volnanza]

Either that or he would have switched positions sooner. Point is that as good a recruiter as Jones may have been, he was a serial abuser of that talent once they were here. My guess is that if NIL and the portal were around at that time there would have been a conga line of players heading out the door, and Jones stay here would have been even shorter.

I never thought Butch was a great recruiter. He focused on star ratings and not on need. Heupel, on the other hand, looks at need. If you need a 4 star lineman and you sign a 5 star skill player, then you still need a 4 star lineman. Butch's classes were just a mish mash of talent with no rhyme or reason or strategy.

 

[sami]

I never thought Butch was a great recruiter. He focused on star ratings and not on need. Heupel, on the other hand, looks at need. If you need a 4 star lineman and you sign a 5 star skill player, then you still need a 4 star lineman. Butch's classes were just a mish mash of talent with no rhyme or reason or strategy.

I was certainly not comparing Jones to Heupel in any way, just making the point that Jones brought in some significant talent and squandered it to a great extent due to lack of development.

 

[Volfan76]

I never thought Butch was a great recruiter. He focused on star ratings and not on need. Heupel, on the other hand, looks at need. If you need a 4 star lineman and you sign a 5 star skill player, then you still need a 4 star lineman. Butch's classes were just a mish mash of talent with no rhyme or reason or strategy.f you look at Jones retention rate of the higher rated players, his recruiting classes were very mediocre.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

The whole thing was kind of toxic. You had Hurd who was disgruntled, you had Butch who is probably more FOS than any coach that’s ever been here and then you had Hurd’s family going on Facebook live and other platforms talking about stuff, getting arrested at football games . The whole thing was a mess. Nobody with common sense or any sense of maturity seemed to be in the room .

 

[cncchris33]

My thought from day 1 on Hurd was basically this guy is an awesome force and I like watching him run the ball, but he's not a running back and we're doing him a disservice playing him at RB.

I have been wrong on this sort of thing, so not trying to be a know-it-all. Just trying to say it seemed obvious he didn't have the punch for the NFL, he had a perfect body for playing H-Back/TE/Slot, and could've avoided a lot of punishment. Baylor knew what to do with him.

Imagine if he had been used the way Brock Bowers was used at Georgia.

 

[Go aeiou]

The dark decade.

 

[butchna]

I never thought Butch was a great recruiter. He focused on star ratings and not on need. Heupel, on the other hand, looks at need. If you need a 4 star lineman and you sign a 5 star skill player, then you still need a 4 star lineman. Butch's classes were just a mish mash of talent with no rhyme or reason or strategy.

He CLOSED tho. You’re right that his team building blueprints were dyslexic. Didn’t help that his ideas for both offensive and defensive schemes were high school level.

 

[butchna]

Imagine if he had been used the way Brock Bowers was used at Georgia.

I never saw him as a TE or LB like so many on here advocated. They would cite how slender he was in high school as their basis, but those are PHYSICAL positions. As much so if not more than running back. The problem imo wasn’t the position but the scheme fit. Physical, downhill runner with upper level receiving skill deep in a slow developing RPO scheme that needed its running backs to get at top speed in two seconds…like Kamara and Kelly. He took such a punishment when he was unable to get past defenses teeing off on him in the backfield that he abstained from contact. So he dropped a lot of weight and became a non-physical WR. He would have never been a Brock Bowers, but he could have been a modern day Keith Byers…and that’s far from shabby.

 

[n_huffhines]

Imagine if he had been used the way Brock Bowers was used at Georgia.

I was thinking more like Aaron Hernandez because that blueprint already existed, specifically the Patriots version of him. You know what Heupel could do with Hurd doing funky stuff across the formation and Kamara in the backfield? It would have been stupid good.

 

[cncchris33]

I never saw him as a TE or LB like so many on here advocated. They would cite how slender he was in high school as their basis, but those are PHYSICAL positions. As much so if not more than running back. The problem imo wasn’t the position but the scheme fit. Physical, downhill runner with upper level receiving skill deep in a slow developing RPO scheme that needed its running backs to get at top speed in two seconds…like Kamara and Kelly. He took such a punishment when he was unable to get past defenses teeing off on him in the backfield that he abstained from contact. So he dropped a lot of weight and became a non-physical WR. He would have never been a Brock Bowers, but he could have been a modern day Keith Byers…and that’s far from shabby.

Right, he wasn't as physical as Bowers is, but I think he could have excelled being used at multiple positions and formations the way Bowers was at UGA. Where he wasn't used strictly as a TE, and moved into the backfield and took handoffs, ran jet sweeps, lined up at Flanker, TE, and WR. They just moved him all over the field and let him use his multifaceted abilities instead of rigidly using him in any traditional sense. Jaylen Warren is another modern example, a lot like your Byers example, and maybe better examples since Bowers's rushing attempts weren't as plentiful, but man he made them count.

 

[Vol423]

I was thinking more like Aaron Hernandez because that blueprint already existed, specifically the Patriots version of him. You know what Heupel could do with Hurd doing funky stuff across the formation and Kamara in the backfield? It would have been stupid good.

That may be the first time I've heard a reference to Aaron Hernandez as a blueprint for success.

 

[butchna]

Right, he wasn't as physical as Bowers is, but I think he could have excelled being used at multiple positions and formations the way Bowers was at UGA. Where he wasn't used strictly as a TE, and moved into the backfield and took handoffs, ran jet sweeps, lined up at Flanker, TE, and WR. They just moved him all over the field and let him use his multifaceted abilities instead of rigidly using him in any traditional sense. Jaylen Warren is another modern example, a lot like your Byers example, and maybe better examples since Bowers's rushing attempts weren't as plentiful, but man he made them count.

That's H-Back and very rarely involved any carries. Princeton Fant filled that role. But Bowers was a focal point as a RECEIVING target and Hurd was best as a receiver when he slipped out of the backfield. It's the equivalent of arguing a mobile QB could be a workhorse RB...totally different dynamics. Seeing your point that his strengths could have been emphasized, I simply think that would have been in line at running back...with a more innovative playcaller. DeBord tinkered with some looks but it appeared Butch nixed them.

 

[n_huffhines]

That may be the first time I've heard a reference to Aaron Hernandez as a blueprint for success.

In all seriousness, is there a better H-back/TE hybrid? He could've been a star full-time TE but the Pats already had that. So they lined him up all over the back field. Gave him carries out of shotgun. It was so fun. Dallas Clark is the other guy that comes to mind but he wasn't very scary with the ball in his hands.

 

[m1al]

My thought from day 1 on Hurd was basically this guy is an awesome force and I like watching him run the ball, but he's not a running back and we're doing him a disservice playing him at RB.

I have been wrong on this sort of thing, so not trying to be a know-it-all. Just trying to say it seemed obvious he didn't have the punch for the NFL, he had a perfect body for playing H-Back/TE/Slot, and could've avoided a lot of punishment. Baylor knew what to do with him.

Seems like I read something back then that said in high school he was better on defense than offense but evidently would only entertain offers to play RB in college. Can anyone confirm that?

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, maybe he should've played safety or LB...