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2020 NFL Draft: Washington’s Jacob Eason a wildcard at QB

By Bryan Perez

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA - MAY 26: Jacob Eason of the University of Washington poses for portraits at Steve Clarkson's 14th Annual Quarterback Retreat on May 26, 2018 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
PACIFIC PALISADES, CA - MAY 26: Jacob Eason of the University of Washington poses for portraits at Steve Clarkson's 14th Annual Quarterback Retreat on May 26, 2018 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) /
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The 2020 NFL draft will feature several quality quarterback prospects, one of which may be Washington’s Jacob Eason.

The one-time five-star quarterback recruit, Jacob Eason, was officially named the Washington Huskies’ starting quarterback Friday, which isn’t all that surprising. While he was in an offseason competition with Jake Haener, it was presumed Eason would be the guy under center once the 2019 season kicked off.

He’s also been mentioned among the top quarterback prospects to monitor this fall, even though he hasn’t played any meaningful football since 2016. Eason appeared in 13 games as a freshman for the Georgia Bulldogs that year, completing 55% of his passes for 2,430 yards with 16 TDs and 8 INTs. He injured his knee at the start of the 2017 season, which opened the door for Jake Fromm who played so well that he kept the gig.

Fromm is in the mix for the No. 3 QB on draft boards behind Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert.

But Eason has a chance to make waves in the quarterback rankings, too.

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ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. currently has Eason rated as the third-best underclassman quarterback behind Tagovailoa and Fromm, and with Herbert the only senior with a more defined ranking ahead of Eason, it’s fair to assume the Huskies’ starter is a top-five prospect at the position.

Much of Eason’s draft hype is based on his high school recruiting profile and his one season of tape from 2016. He has legitimate pro traits ranging from his size (6-6, 227 pounds) to his gifted ability as a pure passer. But there’s certainly going to be a lot of rust in his game; he’s a good candidate to return to school in 2020 in order to build a stronger resume as a first-round pick.

But the NFL is a league starving for quarterbacks. And if Eason gets off to a hot start and builds momentum as a quality draft prospect in September and October, his odds of being at worst a Day-2 pick will skyrocket.

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