2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT JANUARY 5, 2020 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report: QB Jacob Eason, Washington *Our QB grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, leaked Wonderlic test results, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available. Something just doesn’t feel right about Jacob Eason as a serious/top prospect for the NFL. Not that he doesn’t have the tools/ability to get there/stay there…just that he’s not a franchise QB type prospect. I conducted a preview scouting of his 2016 Georgia/Freshman year work this summer, and what I found is likely what most football people are going to think/label him as – he’s 6’5”+/225+, a.k.a. the perfect size the NFL envisions, and he has a nice release on his throws with a rocket arm (which is what the NFL drools over). On a highlight reel of his best throws – he looks like the perfect NFL QB prospect. He meets and passes the quick eye test. I liked what I saw in his 2016 tape too this past summer – a raw, physically gifted prospect of high interest. But it’s already 2020. Why so much talk of the 2016 tape? Well, Eason was a 2016 five-star/top of the list QB prospect coming out of high school. He had the size, the arm, the lineage (father was former NFL QB Tony Eason). He was coveted by one and all. Eason went to Georgia and took over as a starter early on his true freshman season. He had a solid enough freshman SEC season (16 TDs/8 INTs). However, it was all downhill from there in 2017-2018. Eason got hurt early on in game #1 of his 2017/sophomore season, missed a few weeks, and backup Jake Fromm took over -- and Fromm really took over. Fromm kept the job upon Eason’s return and led the Bulldogs to the national title game (a close loss to Alabama). Fromm was the obvious starter for Georgia from then on in…and Eason sat out his 2018 season in order to transfer to Washington. So 2019 was Eason’s 2nd year as a CFB starter and his 1st year with the Huskies…and he was good, but not spectacular. The raw, physical specimen I saw in 2016…didn’t really progress any further to capture my attention watching him in 2019. There’s an NFL upside to Eason – the size, the arm/release. It works in the NFL. He is not devoid of talent. He’s going to get drafted and hang around for a bit. He might even make it to a starting role and do OK for a short stretch. I just see a few too many flaws in Eason in this era of great QB abundance prospects to get super-excited about him as a franchise-changer. The issues I see – he’s unathletic, in an era begging for mobile QBs…Eason is a stiff moving around compared to most top QB prospects in this class and also for the past few years. College Football Metrics| 1 2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT JANUARY 5, 2020 Eason is also showing one flaw that scares me the most – he looks wonderful in a clean pocket, majestic almost. However, under any pressure or perceived pressure Eason hurries throws, wants to throw off his back foot/leaning backwards and using all-arm, and will throw into a crowd way too much. He’s not aggressive and deadly, he’s robotic and erratic. If Eason has time in the pocket, in the pros, he’ll do fine/OK. If things get muddy…I think Eason becomes a risk for turnover and lower completion percentages. In a way, he’s like Josh Allen or Drew Lock – cannon arms, they can look brilliant at times, but eventually they get exposed and cannot carry a team to a high level with any consistency. Because of Eason’s arm talent and pedigree, he can hang in the NFL under development. I just do not see any ‘it’ factor to go with it…a ‘greatness’ ability is lacking. It’s possible that he has a lack of ‘grit’…the son of a decent NFL QB. He likely had the best upbringing and football personal coaching, etc., that any kid could ask for. He had the physical tools and all the opportunity growing up, but now that we’re down to the top 50-100 people who can play QB in the world…Eason may not have that extra edge, that grit, that will for greatness. I just get that vibe when I watch him in interviews and on the field…like a Matt Leinart or Brady Quinn type. It may be why Georgia was so quick to replace him with Jake Fromm…Eason has way more physical talent, but Fromm is better at his craft and a better leader of men, I suspect. Eason has all the tools to work with. He’s a legit NFL prospect. He might be able to be coached up into being a mediocre/erratic/OK NFL QB because he is oozing with the arm and size tools most people would kill for. I just don’t see the X-factor for greatness here. I would not say there is ‘no chance’, I just lean towards betting against him reaching lofty heights in the NFL. Jacob Eason, Through the Lens of Our QB Scouting Algorithm: 12 games against D1 opponents in 2019…and one 300+ yard passing game to show for it. 23 career starts vs. D1 opponents has yielded three 300+ yard games playing at two different schools. Again, that X-factor as a passing assassin is not showing up…in an era where QBs are rolling up huge numbers in college play, this guy with all the tools was just ‘OK’ or ‘good’. His last four games of his college career…fewer than 250 yards passing in all of them and 3 TDs/3 INTs total. There’s no ‘there’ there. 10 TDs/1 INT in his three out of conference games early in 2019 season. 13 TDs/7 INTs in his ten PAC-12 (and a bowl game) games in 2019. Again, nothing special. College Football Metrics| 2 2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT JANUARY 5, 2020 Projected measurables… 6’5”+/225+ +/- 5.00 for a 40-time and a 7.3+ three-cone. The Historical QB Prospects to Whom Jacob Eason Most Compares Within Our System: I see a few too many of the tall, strong-armed QB prospects that tantalized some NFL teams and who hung around rosters for a while with teams hoping they could ‘fix’ the issues – but they never could. I think Eason is better than the garden variety strong-armed and flawed guys, but he’s more like them than the legit/obvious NFL passer prospects. Eason reminds me of a less athletic Drew Lock with less energy on the field. QB- LJax Last First Yr College H W Adj Adj Adj Adj Grade Rating Comp Yds per Pass Pass Pct Comp per TD Per INT 7.282 0.78 Eason Jacob 2020 Washington 77.0 227 64.0% 11.5 16.4 38.4 7.880 4.80 Osweiler Brock 2012 Arizona State 79.2 240 63.5% 11.5 19.3 37.3 7.015 Mettenberger Zach 2014 LSU 76.5 233 63.5% 15.3 19.1 39.0 6.786 Mallett Ryan 2011 Arkansas 78.8 248 60.5% 15.0 16.0 22.8 6.940 2.16 Winston Jameis 2015 Florida State 76.0 235 63.7% 13.5 17.3 30.2 6.131 Lalich Peter 2013 Cal (Pa) 76.1 235 62.8% 14.1 14.8 32.9 4.616 Belton Clay 2013 Findlay 76.4 230 60.1% 12.2 21.1 36.1 *’LJax rating’ – new for 2020, as we re-do our grading systems to better identify/reward the spread offense QB prospects…looking for the runner-passer talents. **“Adj” = A view of adjusted college output in our system…adjusted for strength of opponent. ***A score of 8.5+ is where we see a stronger correlation of QBs going on to become NFL good-to- great. A scouting score of 9.5+ is rarefied air—higher potential for becoming great-to-elite. QBs scoring 6.0–8.0 are finding more success in the new passing era of the NFL (2014–on). Depending upon the system and surrounding weapons, a 6.0–8.0 rated QB can do fine in today’s NFL—with the right circumstances…but they are not ‘the next Tom Brady’ guys, just NFL-useful guys. College Football Metrics| 3 2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT JANUARY 5, 2020 2020 NFL Draft Outlook: I’m seeing Eason projected as high as a late 1st-round pick to mostly a 2nd-round pick. I’m guessing the arm talent is going to be too alluring and he’ll go 2nd-round…falling to the 3rd-round worst case. I just don’t see 1st-round love here. He’d have to do something spectacular at the NFL Combine or he’s just the Joe Burrow alternative because Justin Herbert collapses and Tua doesn’t declare/falls down draft boards on medical reasons, etc. NFL Outlook: Eason will be drafted top 50-75, but likely not drafted to be a starter anytime soon…more a guy to be developed behind an established starter.