UPDATE: Is Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts a first-round prospect in the 2020 NFL draft?

Updated 12/9/19:

Jalen Hurts’ NFL draft stock has been like a rollercoaster this season.

At one point, Hurts had evaluators wondering, “Why isn’t he at least a Day 2 pick?”

But as the season progressed, many of those same evaluators cooled on the Oklahoma senior quarterback.

“Some team is bound to be enamored with his exceptional leadership and poise, and there absolutely is a home for his physical talents in the NFL,” Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports writes in his championship weekend prospects report. “The Lamar Jackson experiment is proof that atypical talents can thrive in the right environment in this league.”

Question marks remain about Hurts’ ability to read defenses, Edholm says, adding that Hurts is also dinged for holding the ball too long and staring down targets.

“Hurts just has to land in the right NFL situation so his talents can properly be steeped. Where he lands is crucial,” Edholm writes.

Hurts finished the regular season with 3,634 yards, 32 touchdowns and 7 interceptions along with 1,255 yards rushing and another 18 TDs.

Jalen Hurts has better size than his two predecessors at Oklahoma.

Through 10 games, Hurts has put up almost identical passing numbers to Kyler Murray, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft choice. And his rushing yardage far surpasses both Murray and Baker Mayfield, who won the Heisman and went No. 1 overall the year before Murray.

There’s no red flags, as Hurts is genuinely considered to be a good locker room guy and leader. And his football pedigree? It doesn’t get much better than going 26-2 as a starter for Alabama, playing in six College Football Playoff games (four starts) and helping the Crimson Tide win the 2017 championship before transferring to Oklahoma.

But you’d be hard-pressed to find Hurts’ name listed in the first round among any 2020 NFL mock drafts.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Hurts as his No. 9 QB prospect and ESPN Insider has him ranked as the No. 78 prospect overall, just above Clemson guard John Simpson but just below UCLA cornerback Darnay Holmes.

Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Hurts just outside his top-60, checking in at No. 63. Pro Football Focus doesn’t have Hurts among its top 100 players.

Part of the reason why Hurts isn’t ranked higher? Evaluators ding him for his accuracy.

“Hurts still has a long way to go as a passer,” writes Ryan Wilson, who covers the NFL and the NFL draft for CBS Sports. “Yes, he’s completing 73 percent of his throws this season, but he’s also targeting wide-open receivers, one of whom (CeeDee Lamb) will likely be a top-15 pick in the draft.

Henry McKenna of For the Win thinks Hurts’ performance last weekend against Baylor should help his draft stock. Hurts completed 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT in the first half, then led his team to a 25-point comeback win by completing 22 of 29 passes for 217 yards and 3 more TDs.

“I hate to say it but perhaps he has that ‘it’ factor — the unquantifiable element that seems so necessary for underdog quarterbacks like Brady, Russell Wilson and Drew Brees,” McKenna writes.

Hurts has often been compared to current Baltimore Ravens and former Louisville QB Lamar Jackson.

“The question will be whether an NFL team is interested and confident enough to customize an NFL system around Hurts’ unique gifts, while developing his passing abilities, much like the Baltimore Ravens did with Lamar Jackson, another outside-the-box but electric threat,” McKenna writes. “And just like Jackson snuck into the back end of the first round, Hurts seems like the type of prospect who could do the same, as the hype continues to grow.”