Jalen Hurts is a very good football player, but he does not get enough credit for that. He is not the reason that the Crimson Tide lost the title game last year, and he is improving this year. The problem is that the Crimson Tide usually do not put out the right kinds of passers, and that makes it a lot harder for them to get the sort of consistent offensive play that is needed. Yes, they have won several national titles, but they have always been overcoming the quarterback play in one way or another. Greg McElroy was not very athletic, and AJ McCarron was very stoic.

Jalen Hurts runs around and cannot necessarily make the pocket passes you are hoping for. However, he could break the mold and go to the NFL with something special to offer.

Why does he run?

Jalen Hurts needs to run because that is a part of his game. He was the kid in high school who had to run because that was how he made plays, and there are a lot of people who benefited from that. He has been starting at Alabama long enough to know that he can make those plays, and he must think that he is going to keep doing this because he wants to make his stamp on Alabama. That would put him in the same rarified air with someone like Joe Namath. Making plays will ultimately matter more, and Hurts always tries to make plays.

The Kenny Stabler mold

Kenny Stabler was a wily and unpredictable character that no one could ever pin down. This guy was the guy that made the most of every play, and he went to the NFL and won a Super Bowl in Oakland because he was that kind of player. Hurts probably sees himself in that way, and I do not think that he is going to stop because he knows that he can make a name for himself that is far greater than a lot of other people that have played at Bama.

Hurts knows that he is playing against history, and he is going to keep doing that even if it is not necessarily what he was told to do. I cannot blame him for that, but it might not win any titles for Alabama.

Playing for yourself

Nick Saban most certainly coaches for himself because he never seems to enjoy football, and he makes way too much money to be a rude curmudgeon to his players all the time.

That means that Jalen Hurts is allowed to play for himself, and I think that he is going to do that because it is good for him in the long run. He is trying to get drafted and make a name for himself in the NFL. He cannot do that unless he has a bit of a selfish streak that will help him get to where he wants to go. As he improves, he will not lose that running style.