Jacob Eason spoke to the NFL combine media about his time at UGA.
The University of Georgia was an early adapter of the graduate transfer rule, as Greyson Lambert had graduated from Virginia and came to UGA with two years of eligibly remaining, since he had not played as a freshman. He was a one-year starter at quarterback, starting all but the Florida game debacle, the final year of the Mark Richt era. He went 11-2 at UGA in total, as he started the first game of the Kirby Smart era, which was played in Atlanta against UNC. Supremely talented top pocket passer recruit Jacob Eason, out of exurban Washington, was called on by Smart to win that game off the bench as a true freshman and never looked back…until he did.
Hearing him reflect on his somewhat turbulent time at Georgia was interesting, as I was so close to the program. “I had a tremendous two and a half years,” he said of the time. “Georgia was a great place for me.”
His biggest moment may have been in defeat, the bomb to Riley Ridley in the Georgia-Tennessee game in Athens, before their Hail Mary.
When Jake Fromm similarly replaced Eason in the next year’s opening game, after a fairly shabby 8-5 campaign – this time as the incumbent starter Eason was injured – Eason’s career in Athens was all but over.
“But that’s the thing about being a quarterback, you can only play one on the field at a time. There isn’t an opportunity to play three or four like a receiver or a running back…go elsewhere and try to compete elsewhere.”
I remember Eason talking publicly about starting at UGA as freshman, when he was a junior in high school. So, him leaving Washington early was no real surprise. I did feel he would have ultimately benefited from staying though, because for two years he had played so sparingly, not at all in one of them. Then, the team took a step back in his lone year starting.
At Washington, Eason had had to sit out a year to gain eligibility, while Washington completed a rather successful three-year run. Under Eason, the Huskies fell to 8-5.
Eason did put up decent numbers and a big yardage total. Now he’s a pro.
