Luke Easterling updates his four-round projections for the 2020 NFL Draft
The 2020 NFL Draft is just days away, but there’s still time to fire off a few more mock drafts before the real thing kicks off Thursday night.
Rumors are flying in every direction already, with teams looking to move up or down all across the first round. Many expecting this to be the most surprise-filled draft in recent memory due in part to this year’s strange and difficult predraft process.
As we head into the homestretch, here’s an updated look at how the first four rounds of this year’s draft could shake out:
1. Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow | QB | LSU
Barring a last-minute trade offer that rivals the likes of Herschel Walker and Ricky Williams, this is going to be the pick. All the talk about Burrow not wanting to play in Cincinnati was just smoke, and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner has made it clear he’s got no problem being a Bengal.
2. Washington Redskins
Chase Young | EDGE | Ohio State
Much like the Bengals, Washington is likely to listen to any potential offers for this pick, but it’ll have to be a sweet deal to get them to give up the best player in the entire draft. Young is a dominant edge rusher with Hall of Fame potential, and while the Redskins have bigger needs elsewhere, Young’s talent and upside trumps all.
3. Detroit Lions
Jeff Okudah | CB | Ohio State
Now, this is where the action should really start. The Lions would love to move back a few spots here, and they’ll be trying to entice any team in need of a top quarterback prospect to swap with them. If they can’t, though, they have a glaring hole where Darius Slay used to be, and filling it with this year’s top cover man in Okudah makes the most sense.
4. New York Giants
Jedrick Wills, Jr. | OT | Alabama
It’s a great year to need an offensive tackle at the top of the draft, but that won’t stop the Giants from listening to offers for this pick. If they remain at No. 4, don’t be surprised if they make the fast-rising Wills the first tackle off the board. He’s been tested against some of college football’s best edge rushers in the SEC, and he’s ready to do the same against pro talent.
5. Miami Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa | QB | Alabama
Yes, there are rumors the Dolphins prefer Justin Herbert, but I’m not buying. It’s been “Tank for Tua” for over a year, and if the Dolphins still get the chance to land him at No. 5 without trading up, it’s a no-brainer. Tagovailoa’s recovery from a nasty hip injury seems to be going extremely well, and if he’s healthy, he’s easily the better prospect with the higher ceiling.
How many quarterbacks get drafted in the first round of Thursday’s NFL Draft? Nick and Pete discuss that on the latest CFN Podcast.
There aren’t a whole lot of known commodities when it comes to the 2020 NFL Draft. Sure, we know that Zoom or Skype will get mentioned more than in any draft previous and that players won’t be dishing out bro-hugs to the commissioner but beyond that and Joe Burrow going to the Bengals, what do we actually know?
Like most drafts the answer is not a whole heck of a lot. In the latest episode of the College Football News Podcast myself and Pete Fiutak go over the first round and discuss how many quarterbacks will have their names called Thursday night. Take a listen and decide for yourself if you’re going over or under.
CFN Podcast: How Many QBs Will Go In 1st Round? Pete Fiutak and Nick Shepkowski dive deep on whether or not five might be picked on Day One.
See why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may want to hold off on drafting an heir-apparent to Tom Brady for at least a year.
Even though Tom Brady hasn’t thrown a single pass yet for the Buccaneers, there’s already talk about who Tampa Bay should take in this week’s NFL draft to groom as Tom Terrific’s successor.
Many scouts and draft experts seem to think that quarterback Jacob Eason is a perfect fit in Tampa Bay. As one AFC exec said, “He’s perfect for a Bruce Arians offense in Tampa. He could sit in the pocket and throw downfield. They could develop him for a few years behind [Tom] Brady.”
As great a compliment as it may seem, it’s also the exact reason why the Buccaneers should hold off on drafting a potential heir-apparent until at least the 2021 draft. If Eason is as tailor-made for a Bruce Arians-style offense as people believe, then the Bucs better be sure Arians is around for the long term.
The #Bucs are signing Bruce Arians to a 4-year deal with a fifth-yaer option, source said. Among the coaches Arians hopes to finalize deals with: Harold Goodwin as Run Game Coordinator/OLine, Byron Leftwich as Pass Game Coordinator and Clyde Christianson as QB coach.
Arians has has had some notable health issues in the past and even retired from football for a year before taking the Bucs job. With Brady signing a two-year deal with Tampa Bay, you get the feeling that Arians is banking on those two years to perhaps be his last. Being part of a rebuild doesn’t sound like it’s in the cards. So, if you take a quarterback that seems perfect for Arians’ system, what guarantee is there that the next head coach will run the same type of offense?
Tampa Bay should just go into the season with the quarterbacks they have on their roster right now. It may seem risky not taking a potential successor in this year’s draft, but it’s no riskier than signing a 42-year-old to be your quarterback.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be looking for Tom Brady’s successor in the upcoming NFL draft. Could Washington QB Jacob Eason be the guy?
The Buccaneers said goodbye to Jameis Winston this offseason after they signed Tom Brady away from the New England Patriots after 20 years. Winston’s five-year run with the Buccaneers resulted in zero playoff appearances for the former No. 1 overall pick and just one winning season.
While the Bucs and their fans are ecstatic to have the six-time Super Bowl champion Brady under center, the fact remains that he’ll be 43 when the 2020 season starts. Whether the Buccaneers want to admit it or not, they need to start thinking about the long-term plan for this team, not just short-term.
This week’s NFL draft will give the Bucs a chance to find a successor to Brady, which some mock drafts have them doing. And, as one AFC exec told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, there’s one quarterback in particular who would be perfect for the Buccaneers: Jacob Eason of Washington.
“He’s perfect for a Bruce Arians offense in Tampa. He wouldn’t have to move. He could sit in the pocket and throw downfield. They could develop him for a few years behind [Tom] Brady.”
If the Bucs really like Eason they may have to use their second-round pick (No. 45) to take him if other teams show interest in moving up to get him. But with other pressing needs, like running back, that might be a little too high to take a player who likely won’t see the field in 2020.
Plus, the Buccaneers already have a backup quarterback for Brady, so the team might be content to wait a year before searching for their next franchise QB in the draft.
In his new seven-round mock draft, Chad Reuter has the Buccaneers stacking their offense, even finding Tom Brady’s heir-apparent.
The 2020 NFL draft is next week, and due to the coronavirus pandemic we’ll be witnessing the first ever fully virtual draft. It’ll be an interesting experience for general managers, players and fans alike, but the overall goal for each team doesn’t change.
The Buccaneers have several issues they’ll need to address next week, primarily on the offensive side of the ball. In his latest seven-round mock draft over at NFL.com, Chad Reuter has the Bucs stacking their offense, including finding an heir-apparent to quarterback Tom Brady in the third round. Plus, it seems Reuter thinks the Buccaneers will go to the Georgia Bulldog well more than once next week when they’re on the clock.
Here’s a look at Reuter’s selections for the Bucs:
Round 1 (No. 14): OT Andrew Thomas, Georgia
Round 2 (No. 45): RB D’Andre Swift, Georgia
Round 3 (No. 76): QB Jacob Eason, Washington
Round 4 (No. 117): S Geno Stone, Iowa
Round 4 (No. 139 )*: Edge D.J. Wonnum, South Carolina
The Indianapolis Colts are officially one week away from being on the clock for the 2020 NFL draft, which is going into a completely virtual format on April 23.
There are so many ways the Colts can go about the draft that it’s nearly impossible to predict perfectly what their draft haul will look like. Still, we can conduct some mock drafts with certain scenarios to see how it might shake out for the Colts.
In this mock draft, we went with the early quarterback to see what the rest of the haul might look like. With four quarterbacks gone in the first round, we went with Eason, who is a high-upside prospect that needs some work done during his first season.
Being able to sit behind Philip Rivers for a season and learn under Frank Reich will do wonders for Eason. He has a big arm, a great frame and the arm talent to make every throw in the book. But he needs to work on handling pressure and hone his instincts, which would be possible with the minds of Reich and Rives.
Eason is far from a perfect prospect and work would have to be done, but he has a high ceiling and with enough push from the quarterback room, he could turn into a solid quarterback.
Jacob Eason has an astoundingly strong arm, but his pocket presence needs work.
I’m going to try my best to say only nice things about Jacob Eason. Here we go: Eason is tall and his arm is very strong. He can fit the ball into windows that very few QBs would even dare to try. And, um … oh, here’s a good one: Eason can get through a progression in a timely manner. If his first read isn’t open, this dude will — are you sitting down? — look to his second read. Crazy, I know.
Now, is he accurate enough to get the ball to his target consistently? No. Is he willing to hang in the pocket and go through his reads when there are bodies around him? LOL. Not a chance. But that arm. It will be enough to convince some team to waste a Day 2 pick on him, but it’s unlikely that any team will ever see him as a viable answer at quarterback. The good news: NFL backup is a pretty sweet gig. (I guess I failed at only saying nice things.)
+Exceptional arm strength that allows him to fit throws into the tightest of windows
[jwplayer UkB5oXcW-EUNY1AaW]
+Can hit deep out-breaking routes from the opposite hash
[jwplayer nfy4nBMg-EUNY1AaW]
+When he does stand in there and make throws in the face of pressure (it’s rare) he can still make the throws
[jwplayer mxjzvo0j-EUNY1AaW]
–Goes into panic mode against any kind of pressure
[jwplayer Ib3N3eHO-EUNY1AaW]
–A big, strong quarterback who is afraid of being in the pocket for more than a couple seconds isn’t necessarily what teams are looking for
[jwplayer KUr7ZiOK-EUNY1AaW]
These numbers line up with what I saw on tape. Eason was excellent on deep in-breaking routes and mediocre-to-bad on just about everything else.
Eason was “meh” in just about every statistical category. For a quarterback who is somewhat conservative, Eason did throw the ball into coverage a lot.
“Adjusted completion percentage considers factors outside of the quarterback’s control in terms of completing passes. It accounts for dropped passes, passes thrown away, spiked balls, passes batted at the line of scrimmage and those passes in which a quarterback was hit as he threw.”
Average Depth of Target:
The average distance a quarterback’s throws travel past the line of scrimmage.
Big-time Throw Percentage:
“In its simplest terms, a big-time throw is on the highest end of both difficulty and value … Therefore, the big-time throw is best described as a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.”
Turnover-worthy Throw Percentage:
“For quarterbacks, there are two ways to achieve a turnover-worthy play: throw a pass that has a high percentage chance to be intercepted or do a poor job of taking care of the ball and fumbling.”
SIS
On-target Throw Percentage:
“The number of accurate throws a quarterback makes divided by the total number of pass attempts”
Catchable Throw Percentage:
“The number of catchable throws a quarterback makes divided by the total number of pass attempts”
EPA:
“Expected Points Added; the total change in the offense’s Expected Points that came on passes thrown by the player”
Total Points:
“The total of a player’s EPA responsibility on passes using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play. For passers, this includes accounting for offensive line play, sacks, off-target passes, dropped passes, and dropped interceptions.”
How the Indianapolis Colts will go about their first two picks in the 2020 NFL draft will be a mystery over the next week as the offseason’s biggest event quickly arrives.
As analysts try to predict what will happen, Mel Kiper of ESPN has the Colts using the Nos. 34 and 44 picks to grab a potential WR1 in the offense and a big-armed quarterback prospect to sit behind Philip Rivers.
The Colts traded out of Round 1 when they added defensive tackle DeForest Buckner from the 49ers, and the loss of that pick stings less because they have Washington’s second-rounder, which comes from the Redskins trading back into Round 1 last year (to add pass-rusher Montez Sweat). Injuries limited top wideout T.Y. Hilton to just 45 catches, and 2019 second-round pick Parris Campbell never got going. Mims is a freaky athlete who will catch a few deep balls from Philip Rivers.
If the Colts actually have a chance to draft Mims, that would be an amazing addition to a wide receiver corps that needs top-end talent. Mims fits perfectly as an X-receiver who can win vertically, and his athleticism shows there is room to grow with his route running.
With their second pick in the second round, the Colts grabbed a potential future quarterback in Washington’s Jacob Eason.
44. Indianapolis Colts
Jacob Eason, QB, Washington | Highlights
Surprised? Don’t be. Philip Rivers is a stopgap for a team trying to get back to the playoffs, and Jacoby Brissett is under contract only through the 2020 season. Eason, who has a massive arm and a 6-foot-6 frame, could be the perfect understudy for Rivers. Eason isn’t ready to play immediately, so he needs a coaching staff that will be patient.
Eason is a developmental prospect under center. He has plenty of arm talent to be intriguing, and his frame is prototypical. But Eason has struggled with pressure and decision making when under pressure. He also needs to better his footwork in the pocket when avoiding the rush.
All those things can be worked on during his rookie season under Rivers and head coach Frank Reich, but he would be a project for the Colts.
The draft is almost a week away and while it will be done in a format that hasn’t been seen before, the Colts have some big moves to make in Round 2 once the event gets underway.
Check out Draft Wire’s exclusive interview with Washington quarterback prospect Jacob Eason
Every top QB prospect wants to separate himself from the rest of the pack, and it’s much easier to do so when you have a trump card in your skill set.
Washington’s Jacob Eason has one, and it’s the rocket attached to his right shoulder.
One of the best passers in the 2020 NFL Draft, Eason recently spoke exclusively with Draft Wire about his transfer from Georgia to Washington, how sitting out a year prepared him for his stellar 2019 season, and what kind of player he’ll be at the next level.
JM: You’ve now had a lot of time to reflect on the transfer from Georgia to Washington. How do you look back on that move today?
JE: I’ve thought about this a lot. I always start by looking back at the decision to go to Georgia in the first place. The journey I took to get where I am today certainly didn’t go as planned. Things went differently and that’s life sometimes. I essentially lost the opportunity to play in two different seasons and I never pictured myself transferring away from Georgia when I first committed there out of high school. I’ve learned so much throughout this journey.
I still believe that the decision to transfer to Washington was in my best interest. It was a decision I made for the betterment of my own career. It was the best decision for me. I’m really glad that I chose to do that. I was able to receive some great coaching and make a ton of great friends at Georgia. I’ll forever be thankful to the coaching staff there and every single one of my teammates as well. I learned a lot in the two years that I spent at Georgia.
I was able to transfer to Washington and learn some more from a new coaching staff. They gave me a fresh perspective on things and I made a ton of great friends there as well. They gave me an opportunity to establish myself on a great team that plays in a great conference.
The decision to transfer and the process that I went through was both challenging and difficult because I had made so many great relationships at Georgia. I had already established myself as a player there.
Coming back home to Washington was awesome. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget.
JM: The quarterback is often the leader in the locker room. You arrive at Washington with your history, you have to sit out a year due to the transfer rules, and Jake Browning is still the guy there. How did you go about trying to establish yourself as the future leader of that program?
JE: I came in and due to the transfer rules, I wasn’t able to suit up on Saturday’s during my first year at Washington. I was older and more mature than I was when I first arrived at Georgia. I was able to establish myself as a leader through workouts, activities off the field and practices. You’re used to playing on Saturday’s and now you’re not able to do that. Now obviously I knew what I was getting myself into when I made the decision to transfer. There’s an adjustment that comes with that.
I really just embraced practice more than ever before. My Tuesday through Thursday was the new Saturday for me. I was able to establish myself as the scout team quarterback. I was able to get the younger guys to rally around me a little bit. Those guys who weren’t getting the Saturday reps, I was able to lead the scout team and really create a bond with those guys. We learned together.
Getting to play and practice alongside Jake Browning was a big thing for me. I was really able to start over. It was a fresh start right from the ground up. I had to establish myself in practice first and foremost. Being the gamer and competitor that I am, it was all about practice and workouts for me now.
It was a very cool and unique experience. I was a local kid that came back home. People in this area knew who I was, but I was still able to start from scratch. I had to prove my work ethic and show everybody here what I was capable of. I had to prove that I was worthy of playing on Saturday’s again.
JM: You mentioned that getting to play alongside Jake Browning was a big thing for you. By all accounts, Jake is the ultimate professional, and a really great teammate to be around. You were able to sit behind him and watch how he ran things. What did you take from that experience?
JE: It was such a cool experience. It was a very fresh and unique situation because I came in and I wasn’t a threat to his job. I couldn’t challenge him. There was no quarterback controversy because I couldn’t play. It gave me a chance to come in and be a true friend to him. I was able to serve as an extra set of eyes in the meeting room and on the practice field. I was just another guy in the room that he could lean on and vice versa.
I was able to really learn from that situation. It gave me a chance to shadow him and watch how he conducted himself. He had an outstanding career at Washington. He set a lot of records in his time there. He did things the right way and he set a great example for me. Jake’s football I.Q. is brilliant when it comes to watching film. He sees everything on the field. It gave me a great chance to learn from how he operated in the film room. I saw how the work he did in the film room translated to the practice field. I took so much from that. Jake was very good at seeing things and analyzing different coverages. He understood how to leverage defenders.
Jake and I have very different skill-sets. We operate differently but the way that he prepared and got ready for every Saturday set an excellent example for me. It was something that I was able to learn from and implement into my routines.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
JM: What can you tell me about the offense you ran at Washington? What sort of chemistry did you have with offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan?
JE: Coach Hamdan was awesome. From the time I got there up until the day that we both left Washington, we established a great relationship. He really values the relationship part of it. Some coaches will just coach to coach and you’re just another player to them but that’s not coach Hamdan. He does a really good job of establishing relationships with every guy in the quarterback room. That goes for the receivers as well, he pulled double duty as our receivers coach.
He understood how I operated. We nurtured our relationship. I think that we had outstanding chemistry. He helped me a ton on Saturday’s. I really enjoyed going out and practicing for him. I valued our relationship. Because of that, I was able to go out there and have fun. I enjoyed playing for him.
JM: What sort of responsibilities did he give you at the line of scrimmage?
JE: We had so many different packages in our offense. It wasn’t anything overly crazy though. Whether it was an RPO, a run check, a one-high or two-high look, maybe we’re keying in on a specific defender. I had the option to audible out of the protection or a flip a play to the other side of the field. The coaching staff had a lot of trust in what I was seeing out there. The floodgates of communication were always open.
In the RPO situation, I could run it, throw it or hand it off based on what I’m seeing. There were certain coverages that would provide us with different indicators. I always had the option to get things set up in a way that lined up with what I was seeing out there.
Coach Hamdan is a really good play caller though. A lot of the time, his game-planning consistently had us in the right situation and set up. It’s not like I had to go out there and frequently change things. He’s a great game-planner, he does a great job studying the film and setting us up for success on Saturday’s. He always put me in a good situation. I’m very thankful to him for that.
I had a lot of freedom but we were lined up in a great situation most of the time. We usually had a really good play-call and I just tried to execute that to the best of my ability.
Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
JM: You’re very complimentary of Coach Hamdan and the way that he watched film. What goes into your film study? What are some examples of things that you personally look for on film?
JE: I usually start off by trying to identify who there better defenders are. You always wanna look for who’s gonna be a threat out there on Saturday. You also wanna look for somebody that maybe presents himself as a match-up advantage for us. Who can we pick on? I’m always looking for those indicators. I look at their alignments and how they try to disguise something. Are they off the hash? Is there some subtle movement that tips what the coverage is gonna be?
I look for things that will help me get a clear picture on Saturday. Throughout the week, I look for things on film that will help me cut it loose on Saturday. I never wanted to be unsure of something. At the same time, you never want to muddy your mind. You never wanna second guess yourself. Trust what you see and prepare to attack on Saturday. I never wanted to over-analyze the situation. That’s when you start battling your own mind. I wanna play freely and cut it loose. I’d watch film to identify the things that could help me do that.
JM: Which areas of your game do you think took the biggest step forward this past season?
JE: I really focused on improving my leadership abilities this past season. I think that’s the area that I took my biggest step forward in. As I mentioned earlier, I missed two seasons before this last season. My biggest thing was that I was very excited and happy to be out there again. I was excited to cut it loose. I had so many different things happen for me this year. I was really able to step up and become a vocal leader and rally the troops. I had a chance to put that on display this year. Along with that, my passion in certain situations really came through. You saw it when we made a big play. I was just able to cut it loose and have fun again.
I was truly happy to play the game that I love this past season.
JM: I’ve been really impressed by your training schedule throughout this process as you continue to prepare for the next level. From a mechanics aspect, I know that you’ve been working with the guys from 3DQB. Tom, Adam, John and Taylor do a great job with that. They work with the best of the best, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and so on. You’ve also been working on some speed and strength stuff with Gavin MacMillan and his team over at Sanford Power. How have those two processes been going for you?
JE: Every single one of those guys have been awesome to work with. The area that we’re training in, the weather has been perfect and it’s allowed us to work really hard every day. With Gavin and everyone over at Sanford Power, they do some things that I’ve never done before. Their understanding of mechanics and the human body is so incredibly advanced. The machines are top notch. With they’ve done with my legs and upper body has really paid off for me.
These are things I’ve never done before. I ran a 4.89 at the combine. That’s the fastest time I’ve ever ran (laughs). The things they’re doing to keep me mobile and build up my muscle mass has been really incredible. They’ve helped me become quicker and faster all while getting stronger. Gavin and the entire team know what they’re doing. They’ve put a lot of time into getting me right throughout this process.
With 3DQB, they start from the ground up. I obviously have a very strong arm and they knew that. They didn’t really wanna mess with anything up top but the biggest issue that I wanted to work on was getting everything involved from the ground up. We’ve worked on getting my feet to match up with my upper body. We’re getting my hips involved. We’re working on my half step. I’ve been working with them for four days a week. We worked all the way up until the combine and we had a little mock Pro Day as well.
It’s been great to have both of those resources at my fingertips. They’re all top notch. They have a number of guys who are the best at what they do. They’ve worked with some very impressive people as you mentioned, guys like Tom Brady and what not. They both have an excellent track record. It’s been an honor. They’ve all been so great to work with.
Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
JM: What are three traits that a successful quarterback must possess?
JE: Work ethic and leadership are the first traits that come to mind for me. You have to work to be the best. Nothing comes free and nothing comes easy. Every quarterback that has gone on to do great things put in their fair share of work. You’re gonna go through the ups and downs of this position and you have to work through it. It’s the will to get better that picks you back up and motivates you. A lot of work has to go into that.
You have to be passionate and you have to have that drive. A lot of the all-time greats are very charismatic. You have to be a gamer on the field. You can play all you want but if your love for the game isn’t genuine, I don’t think that you can have any sort of sustained success. My passion is what drives me. I’m highly motivated to play the game that I love at a high level. I love playing the game and I love being in the locker room. It extends beyond myself. I don’t play the game for one person. I love playing with the group of guys in our locker room. That’s what motivates me.
JM: As a quarterback, how do you balance being aggressive with taking the safe play?
JE: It all goes into what the game-plan for that week is. There’s definitely areas to be exploited. We discuss and work on situational football all the time. You wanna take a shot sometimes. You have to know when and where to take those opportunities. I’ve been known to take a few extra risks with my strong arm. I know I can get away with that. I feel confident in my ability to make those plays. There’s also situations where you have to play it smart. If it’s third-and-short, we need to take the safe route and simply pick up the first down. It all goes into the game-plan. We’re always working on making sure that we have a healthy balance of both.
That’s what’s so much fun about this game. When you get good at it, you can really test yourself and take some chances. Sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don’t. All that matters is that you continue to learn throughout the process.
JM: Developing trust with your pass catchers is imperative when playing the quarterback position. How do you try to build trust with your guys?
JE: That’s what the off-season is for. The 7-on-7 drills, the spring practices, you have to take advantage of that time and really start to build a rapport with your pass catchers. Everything we do from the start of camp and practice up until the start of the season has to really focus on building that trust and chemistry. You’re still building some of that trust well into the season. Sometimes you have guys that weren’t necessarily playing early in the year or they had injuries during camp or whatever.
At Washington, some of the guys who weren’t playing at the beginning of the year became some of our better receivers late in the year. They remained consistent in what they were doing and it paid off for them later in the season.
A lot of that trust is built during the off-season and it carries over throughout the year. That chemistry is huge. I had guys like Hunter Bryant and Aaron Fuller at my disposal. I had several big-time targets that I really trusted. They ended up playing really well for us.
It’s really on us players to build that trust and rapport with one another. We really only get the time slots allotted to us by the NCAA to work on that, to be there on the field with our coaches and everybody else. A lot of that ends up falling on us quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends. We have to build that chemistry one way or another. We did a good job of preparing for that at Washington.
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
JM: What was your experience like at the NFL Scouting Combine?
JE: It was awesome. Going into it, I prepared as best as I could. I really tried to mock every single situation I may have found myself in. Everybody here at Rep 1 did a great job helping me prepare for that. I felt very confident going into the combine. It was great to come together with all of the athletes that have trained for this moment. We all had a chance to put our talents on display.
From a competitive standpoint, it was awesome to go out there and throw the ball with the top guys in the country. It felt like my dreams were coming true on that stage. The experience was fantastic. It was a long, tough week but I look back on it as a huge blessing. I was thankful to be put into every one of those situations. I’ve always dreamed about it. It was an awesome week.
JM: Taking every aspect of the combine into account, every situation you were put in, what do you think is the overall impression you left out there?
JE: I feel very confident in the impression that I left out there. I know the type of play-maker I am. I know what my skill-set is. I’m very confident in my personality traits as well. I felt good about every one of my meetings. I feel very confident in the way that I left the combine. I’m just looking forward to this next step in the process. The virus has certainly shaken things up a little but we’re just taking things one day at a time. I’m excited for what comes next.
JM: It’s a very unique process due to COVID-19. Were you able to get any private visits or workouts in before the virus caused all 32 teams to pull everybody off the road?
JE: It all happened so fast. None of my private visits or workouts ended up happening. That’s been the case for several of us players. It’s been a unique process. I’ve been able to hop on video conference calls with several different teams. That’s basically been a daily process for me. I’ve been in touch with a lot of different people and teams throughout this process.
Of course I wish we could have that face-to-face interaction in person but it’s out of our control. We have to do things this way right now. I’ve been getting plenty of FaceTime calls in. I’m still working on building that rapport with them. I’ve met a lot of great people.
JM: Who are some of the teams that you’ve met with via video conference call?
JE: I’ve met with several teams throughout this process. I can’t get into the fine details, but I’ve met with at least two handfuls of teams. I’d say anywhere from 10-12. I’ve been in touch with a lot of coaches. We’re just building those relationships. We’re learning the way we operate. We’re discussing football and getting a handle on our beliefs and how we approach the game. It’s been a really cool experience. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these coaches and giving them the opportunity to get to know me. It’s been a fun process.
JM: I’ve really appreciated your time today, Jacob. This has been a terrific, in-depth conversation. When a team uses a draft pick on Jacob Eason, what kinda guy are they getting?
JE: I really appreciate you, Justin. I’ve really enjoyed this conversation. When a team drafts me, they’re getting a confident gamer first and foremost. I’m gonna be an asset in the locker room. I’m super confident in my abilities. I’m ready to take on this next step. I’m gonna be very fortunate to get picked up by a team. I can’t wait to get to work.
