Kansas State Football: Jalen Hurts wouldn’t make sense with K-State

Does Kansas State football, with new coach Chris Klieman, make sense as a destination for Alabama signal caller Jalen Hurts? Hurts is entering the transfer portal and it’s unknown of where he’ll be headed next.

When the final whistle blew and the Clemson Tigers rushed the field as National Champions, it likely brought an end to the career of Jalen Hurts as a quarterback for the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

Hurts is perhaps the most accomplished quarterback to hit the transfer market this offseason after Justin Fields went to Ohio State and Kelly Bryant to Missouri. Will Chris Klieman and the Kansas State football program have an interest in bringing in the graduate transfer quarterback?

Hurts was the starter from his freshman season going forward until the National Championship game last season when freshman Tua Tagovailoa took over in the second half, leading Alabama back to an overtime victory over Georgia. For his career, Hurts has thrown for 48 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on a completion percentage of 62.9.

How Hurts fits in with K-State

Hurts is a dual-threat quarterback, and despite the new coach, a quarterback that can run with the football is a required attribute under Chris Klieman and offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham. Hurts rushed for 1,976 yards and 23 touchdowns at Alabama during his three years there. Running with the ball perhaps is Hurts’ greatest strength.

Also, Hurts has a good arm. Accuracy hindered his development (and completion percentage) and the play calling limited his deep throwing opportunities, but his arm strength certainly is good enough to push the ball down the field.

Lastly, Hurts recruiting and landing in Manhattan would offer a level of legitimacy to the new coaching staff, and Hurts’ name is perhaps bigger than his potential with whatever program he does land with. For a new coach to land a quarterback with three National Championship game appearances would generate a significant amount of momentum for future recruiting.

How Hurts doesn’t fit in with K-State

Kansas State already has a quarterback of sorts in junior Skylar Thompson. While Thompson has not lit the world on fire for the Wildcats, by all appearances, he is the guy going forward. If Hurts were to come in, would Thompson transfer? He has graduated and would be eligible to be a graduate transfer in the same situation Hurts is now in.

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While Hurts’ passing stats are better than Thompson’s, it’s not a significant difference. To that point, why would Hurts want to come to Kansas State? The offensive line and running backs are not nearly the level of talent that he had at Alabama, and there are questions about anyone at the receiver position.

While it’s impossible to quantify, Kansas State’s talent on offense at all positions are miles away from that of Alabama.

With Thompson still on the roster and multiple young quarterbacks either already there or signed to come in, does Hurts want to go somewhere he will have to compete for a starting position and playing time? Does the situation in Manhattan attract the graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining?

Also, for a coach trying to establish his own program and ‘way of doing things’ is bringing in a one year quarterback the way you want to go? The Wildcats landed two quarterbacks in this recruiting cycle and are looking to build their program.

What does a one-year graduate transfer do for the program? Kansas State is not lacking for depth at the position and the coaching staff is not desperate to win a few extra games in 2019 to keep their jobs.

It’s highly unlikely that Hurts ends up at Kansas State, both because I don’t believe the program would recruit him very hard and I don’t think that the program would interest Hurts much.

Jalen Hurts makes more sense with a program such as UCLA, who needs a quarterback that can run with a head coach that needs to win games and a certain level of prestige.