While it remains to be seen if quarterback Jacob Eason will turn out to be the next signal-caller to wear the horseshoe, the Indianapolis Colts see a high ceiling as a part of the rookie’s range of outcomes.
Part of the reason for such a high ceiling is due to the arm talent that Eason brings to the field. The Colts feel he had the best arm talent in the entire class, and it has been molded around a gunslinger mentality.
Eason said he prefers to have the big plays in mind rather than being a quarterback afraid to move the ball downfield.
“You’ve got to know your boundaries with it,” said Eason via 1070 The Fan. “(But) I prefer to have a gunslinger-type mentality, I’m going to cut it loose every chance I get, but obviously you’ve got to know the situation, you’ve got to know the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do with the ball.”
There are obvious risks and rewards of having that type of mentality. The reward is the consistency in big plays. The risk is the high chance of the ball falling into a defender’s hands rather than a receiver’s.
But even while Eason loves showing off his right arm, he understands his limits. The rookie is also understanding that there is a time and place to let it loose while conversely, there is a time to check the ball down.
“I’m going to work hard to be the best I can be. Arm strength can only get you so far,” Eason said. “Obviously, I can rely on that in a lot of situations on Saturday (in college), and it can allow me to do some pretty cool things with the ball, but I’ve been working on all the other things that go along with that to make me a more complete player.”
If all goes according to plan, Eason won’t be seeing the playing field at all during the 2020 regular season. He will sit and learn behind starter Philip Rivers and backup Jacoby Brissett while taking notes from Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni.
But the upside is clearly there with Eason. If he can mold that gunslinger mentality with improvements in the mental side of the game, the ceiling is very high for the Washington product.