There is no denying of Jalen Hurts being a strong athlete.
As a true freshman, he squatted 500 pounds to the surprise of Alabama football’s director of strength and conditioning Scott Cochran and his teammates. Hurts’ lower body strength and elusiveness led him to 954 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns, while he earned recognition as the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in 2016.
After the Crimson Tide had it second spring practice on Thursday, Hurts decided to improve upon his mark – attempting to squat 600 pounds.
With Cochran recently joining Twitter in February, he posted a video of the rising junior handling the challenge with no problem.
Ready to put the pads on!@JalenHurts pic.twitter.com/eJkN2g2Lcj
— Scott Cochran (@CoachYeah) March 23, 2018
Despite recording 1,809 rushing yards with 21 scores in two seasons, it is Hurts’ performance as a passer or lack thereof (to this point) that has fans pushing for sophomore Tua Tagovailoa to start in the fall. Regardless of him completing at 60 percent of his throws and having 40 touchdowns to 10 interceptions – four to one ratio – his outings against elite defenses have been subpar, with the exception of a few big moments.
Hurts has an opportunity to close the gap between he and the hero of Alabama’s 2017 national title season with a dominate spring effort.
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @Smsmith_TDALMag.
