It's because fair or not the entire success or failure of the Offense is funneled through the QB getting the ball in the right players hands.
He is supposed to read the opposing Defense, Make Protection checks w/ the Center, Send RB's or WR's in Motion, Call an Audible if a disaster is about to happen etc etc.
Jalen hasn't reached a level to do all that successfully for whatever reason(s).
In reference to your last comment I almost quickly posted something to the effect of "Dang man that's a little harsh to say..." BUT...
Then I really looked at those game to game stats...
His best numbers (which still are just OK) were against the weakest of teams and his worst stats were against the better/good/great teams.
So as much as I love Jalen I can't really disagree with you. His best moment was probably the comeback and GW drive against MSU.... but we never should have needed to comeback either....plus that game also started the "Built for Moments like this" type boasting.....so....yeah.
Look, I like the kid, okay? What he did when he BEGAN was REALLY phenomenal.
But set aside the "well, Alabama is unbeaten in 2016" stuff and ask yourself.....what did he REALLY do?
He fumbled his first ever snap against USC. Of course, it's not fair to judge him entirely on that, either.
USC - he was 6 of 11 for 118 yards, 110 of which came on TWO TD pass plays to Ardarius Stewart. Keep in mind that the long TD pass was only about a 14-yard pass that Stewart ran the rest of the way on his own. Also - the defense scored enough to win the game by itself (Marlon's pick six).
He DID have a good game against WKU, hardly a stellar national power. Again keep in mind that the defense and special teams scored as many points as WKU did.
And that leads us to Ole Miss 2016.
Hurts was 19 for 31 for 158 yards. What was important was his RUSHING. I have to admit that without a running QB who could take some time off the clock, we probably DO lose the Ole Miss game. Of course, if you look closer, we had THREE NOTs (Jackson's punt return, Payne's fumble recovery, and Allen's 75-yard rumble), too. This was a strange game all the way around, and I'd hate to put my whole legacy on this one game. But yes, Hurts does deserve credit, and I won't blame him for the fumble on the not called targeting hit that got Ole Miss a TD.
Kent State and UTC aren't even worth talking about.
UK - 20 of 33 for 262, 2 TDs, 0 INT. But again....the defense scored 7 points and only gave up 6. I was at that game and even with those stats it didn't feel like he was improving all that much.
Arky - Hurts had a good game, 13 of 17 for 253, 2TD, 1INT. But even those stats are inflated. 67 of those yards came on a pass play of 20 yards to Stewart, who ran the next 47....oh and fumbled the ball away. You can't blame the fumble on Hurts, but the fact is he had TWO completions the entire game of more than 16 yards and MOST were under 11.
Tennessee - AGAIN, the defense and special teams scored 14 points and the D only gave up 10. Hurts completed 17 of 27 for 172 yards, but he did splending with his legs, rushing for 3 TDs and over 100 yards.
ATM - now again, I was at this game. And the way I recall it, we SHOULD have been blowing ATM out by about three TDs at halftime and yet we only led by six points. But just as a reminder, we went right down the field against them and got first and goal at the ten. Hurts took two losses for five yards and missed a pass to Ridley and we settled for three. On the second drive, we had first and goal at the 9 and Hurts threw a pass to OJ for a 2-yard loss, a run for no gain, and an incomplete to Ridley - and we got a SECOND FG. On the third drive, he did finish with a 5-yard toss to OJ for the TD. On a later drive towards the end of the half, Hurts got us first and 10 at the ATM 14 and we had Jacobs for a loss, Jacobs for a gain, and an incomplete to Ardarius, followed by a missed 29-yard FG. At the end of the half, he threw a meaningless pick.
To open the second half after ATM scored, Hurts had THREE incompletions and we would have had to punt but got bailed out by a DPI that gave us new life.
His stat line was 15 of 25 for 164, 2/2. But 46 of that came on the same basic play that got a lot of his yards where Stewart catches the ball and runs.
LSU - 10 of 19 for 107 yards is never impressive. He had the run that won the game, but one surmises that a competent passer would have blown out LSU.
MSU - okay, he flung the ball for 347 yards. Keep in mind that Kentucky's QB threw for 292 and Danny Etling for 215 (he had Fournette so, less passing)
I mean, YEAH, he threw for a bunch of yards, mostly to Ardarius on the same play they couldn't stop.
Auburn - again, he had a decent enough game, but we kept leaving points on the board. On the first scoring drive we had 2nd and 1 at the eight and he got sacked for a loss and we settled for a FG. right before the half we had first and 10 at the Auburn 13 and had two incompletions and a short run by Bo and settled for another FG. Decent but nothing to write home about.
Let me summarize it like this: Jalen Hurts has had TWENTY-NINE football games to learn to know when to pass and hasn't done it against a defense of any calibre. Tua had ONE HALF of football against an elite level defense when he entered the game down 13-0 and DID know what to do with one exception.
I surmise that 29 games' experience and Tua won't throw the awful pick he did against UGA.
I don't have the same confidence in Jalen to know when to pull the trigger.