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Chris Ballard continues to hit the offensive needs in the 2020 NFL draft and to start Day 3 at pick 122 overall, the Indianapolis Colts selected Jacob Eason, quarterback out of Washington.
After the Andrew Luck retirement shocked the Colts in late-August, Indianapolis rode with Jacoby Brissett in 2019. After a lackluster season, the Colts went into free agency to address the QB position by signing 38-year old Philip Rivers. Ballard and Co. didn’t stop there as they got into the fourth round, they saw their guy in Eason on the board and selected him with the 122nd pick in the NFL draft.
Eason was the top pro-style high school quarterback recruit coming out of Lake Stevens High School in the Seattle area. He was the 2015-16 National Gatorade Player of the Year and threw for over 10,000 career passing yards, and he eventually chose Georgia as his new home. As a true freshman, he grabbed the starting job in 12 of 13 games played, completing 204-of-370 throws (55.1 percent) for 2,430 yards and 16 scores with eight interceptions. Eason was the starter to begin the 2017 season, as well but left the Bulldogs’ opener with a left knee injury. Freshman Jake Fromm took over the starting duties for the rest of the year.
Eason brings elite size with a rocket launcher connected to his right shoulder. He has all the throwing power needed to make every throw and hammer the ball into tight windows. Finds great success in the play-action game and pushing the ball down the field. He can hit the deepest windows on the field.
He has general accuracy but there are also flashes of outstanding ball placement. Doesn’t make overly risky decisions with the football. Upper body throwing mechanics are clean. The ball comes out fairly efficiently when he pulls the trigger. He’ll stand tall in the pocket and sling it, even with rushers closing in on him.
He’s slow working through progressions, despite them primarily being high to low half-field reads. While his wide receivers at Washington weren’t great separators, Eason’s pace through his progressions created frequent contested situations at the catch point and very little production post-catch. Snap to release process has to be quicker, even when facilitating the quick game. He operates from a balanced base but he fails to be consistent with weight transfer and I believe it impacts his ball placement. He has modest pocket mobility and he isn’t a dynamic threat to extend plays and work outside of the structure.
On day 3 of the draft, teams are looking for guys to develop and become a starter in the next year or two. Whether Ballard valued Eason in the second or third round, he got to wait until the fourth to get him. Now Eason isn’t pressured to start right away, he can sit a year or two behind Rivers and learn the game.
Sam Sinclair Grade: A
Kevin Hickey Grade: B+