Tag: Jacob Eason

The Indianapolis Colts have turned up the heat at training camp throwing on the pads and getting physical as they prepare for the expected start of the 2020 season. One player who will likely do more watching than playing is rookie quarterback Jacob Eason.

With Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett taking the majority of the reps under center to begin the padded sessions at West 56th Street, Eason is doing all he can with his limited work on the field.

It is a challenge for the young quarterback, but he’s embracing the unique spot he’s in being able to work behind Rivers and Brissett.

“It’s a new and unique challenge. I’m very fortunate to be in this spot in the position I’m in. Like I mentioned before, I’m taking it a day at a time trying to learn everything I can, trying to compete every day and stay consistent. Really, we are going out here to practice, meeting and doing these things so often that for me it is taking it all in and trying to learn as much as possible to make myself a better player,” Eason told reporters Monday. “The competition part of it is great because it brings out the best in all of us and I’m really looking forward to these next couple days of practice and just continuing to get better.”

Eason also noted that working with most the third and fourth teams, he hasn’t gotten a chance to throw to the team’s top targets like T.Y. Hilton.

A fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft, Eason still has a lot of work to do before he’s game ready. Working behind Rivers and with head coach Frank Reich should help plenty while the Washington product gets used the game speed.

“I’m just taking it a day at a time. I noticed it from the first walk-thru that it is a little bit quicker than it was at the college level. I know guys are here, filtered through an even more fine process than they were in college. Everyone’s really good athletes, everyone is really smart,” Eason said. “So, the competition out there is awesome. I’m kind of taking it a day at a time trying to get better, stay consistent day in and day out and work on my self-progress. The speed of the game and all of that stuff is definitely faster than what I am used to, but I’m slowly improving on that.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Eason will have to be ready to play in a moment’s notice. But the plans are for him to watch and learn behind Rivers and Brissett while adjusting to life in the NFL.

Over the next three weeks, the Indianapolis Colts will have crucial roster decisions to make before the list is cut down to 53 players. Some of those decisions reside in the quarterback room.

Though Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett have their roster spots locked up as the starter and backup, respectively, the Colts are going to face a decision as to whether they will keep an extra quarterback on the active roster.

Head coach Frank Reich told reporters this week that he and general manager Chris Ballard are weighing their options when it comes to the quarterback room.

“Chris (Ballard) and I talk about it all the time as we talk about the roster and how it’s going to be made up,” Reich said of keeping three quarterbacks. “That’s to be determined, but we’re talking about all options are open as we continue to progress forward and see where the roster is at that time. We’ll weigh the pros and cons of going with two or going with three.”

The reason this is really up for debate is that the Colts spent a fourth-round pick on Jacob Eason. Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Colts would likely lean with two quarterbacks on the active roster.

However, if the Colts wanted to get Eason on the practice squad, they’d have to subject him to waivers. Given his upside as a passer, the chances are he wouldn’t make it back to the Colts.

In regards to the protected practice squad—a new rule implemented for the 2020 season—it isn’t clear if those players would be subject to waivers as well. If they aren’t, then the process should be relatively straight forward. The Colts would keep Rivers and Brissett on the active roster while Eason goes on the protected practice squad where he can get his work in safe from other teams trying to poach him.

How many quarterbacks the Colts wind up keeping will have an impact on the rest of the roster, especially at positions with several players vying for the final one or two spots.

There are several developments to keep an eye on throughout camp. The quarterback position will be one to watch as the Colts try to determine how many they will keep on the active roster.

As the month of August rolls around and training camp begins this week, there will be plenty of roster projections going around with ideas on how the Indianapolis Colts and the rest of the NFL will trim down the team to 53 players.

We have done so a few times this offseason (our latest projection here), and there are several difficult decisions to make. The Colts find themselves in an interesting predicament, though, as most assume they will keep three quarterbacks on the roster after selecting Jacob Eason in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Even though he’s unlikely to play a single snap in 2020, the common idea is that the risk of losing him to waivers is far too high to put him on the practice squad. Thus, they will have to keep him on the active roster.

However, as ESPN dished out their 53-man roster projections ahead of training camp, the Colts take that risk and carry just two quarterbacks in Phili[ Rivers and Jacoby Brissett. Here’s what ESPN’s Mike Wells, who conducted the projection, said about the quarterback position:

QUARTERBACK (2): Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett

The Colts have plenty of experience at quarterback, as Rivers and Brissett have combined for 256 career starts. Even with Rivers’ 23 turnovers, including 20 interceptions, which were the third-most in the NFL last season, he is an upgrade over the more conservative Brissett.

It would be quite a shock to see the Colts risk losing the fourth-round pick in Eason. Is it impossible? Of course not. Anything can happen in the NFL, and it wouldn’t be the first time if this specific scenario played out.

But the Colts waiving Eason in hopes of re-signing him to the practice squad is a massive risk and one they might not want to take.

Should the Colts take the risk of putting Eason through waivers, they could potentially miss out on developing a high upside prospect with a booming right arm. They would have essentially wasted a fourth-round pick on a position that has no future outlook whatsoever.

Eason wasn’t highly ranked by the Colts. They had him as a fourth-round grade on their board and felt the value was sufficient during the draft. And even though the likelihood of Eason turning into a franchise quarterback is very slim, it wouldn’t be a wise move to take that risk of losing him to a more-quarterback needy team.

Eason has the tools to be a successful signal-caller in the NFL. He has a big arm to make all of the throws and the work ethic to improve in the areas necessary.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next month, but it would be a surprise if the Colts don’t enter the season with three quarterbacks on the active roster.

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.