Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 4/28/20: Jacob Eason deep dive with Christian Caple of The Athletic

Episode Date: April 29, 2020

On today's episode, Christian Caple of The Athletic joined to help take a deep dive into new Colts QB Jacob Eason. What was Eason like on and off the field at UW? Christian helped shed light on the report from ESPN that Eason dropped due to character concerns.Also, what are some games you should watch to get a better feel on Eason as a prospect? Caple drops some suggestions while analyzing Eason's tenure with the Huskies. Even though Washington underperformed, the arm talent is undeniable.Christian believes Eason sitting behind Rivers for two years plus having the system in place around him is the best long-term spot for him. Will Eason truly be Indy's QB answer?We close with GM Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich's answers from their post-draft press conference with the local media. All things Eason from Indy's braintrust.This is a must-listen if you want to get familiar with the Colts' possible long-term quarterback! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into your latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of your Locked On Podcast Network. Today's host is your host, Evan Satter. I'm joined by a very special guest today as we dive into possible future franchise quarterback, Jacob Eason, who is directing the fourth round, number 122 overall. We're joined by the athletics beat writer for the Washington Huskies, Christian Capel. How are you doing today, Christian?

Hey, I'm doing great. How are you doing? Yeah, doing well. Appreciate the time and coming on short notice here because a very intriguing prospect in Jacob Eason landed in Indianapolis. I'm glad to have you on here, Christian, because you had a chance to be around Eason for the last couple of years. He was a transfer in. He sat out for a year. And this past year for Washington, he put up good numbers. He had a chance to be around on a daily basis. Overall, Christian, what's your thoughts on Jacob Eason as a player and what you saw over the last 18-plus months at the University of Washington?

Yeah, I mean, the first thing that really jumps out at you is just the physical tools, not just the arm talent. Obviously, you see that as soon as he picks up a football. It doesn't matter what kind of route he's throwing. The ball really zips out of his hand,, it gets to the receiver in a hurry. But just walking around, I mean, he's six foot six and 230 pounds and just kind of looks like the dude. You know, you've watched him warm up alongside Washington's other quarterbacks. And, you know, that's a position that at the University of Washington, they've recruited really well and they've got some really promising guys.

But you just watch him go through warm ups. You watch him alongside his teammates and you you know you could point out yeah that's the starting quarterback right there so he looks the part um obviously an elite an elite arm in terms of arm strength um wasn't always the most accurate passer was pretty accurate pretty reliable pretty comfortable when he when he wasn't being pressured and didn't have to negotiate the pocket any differently than the game plan and all those sort of things. You know, receivers did not have to be real open for him to find them and make big plays. He's the sort of guy who really trusts his arm and is going to be confident to sort of give his receiver a chance to go make a play if he gets even a half a step.

And, you know, you saw him create some touchdowns for Washington that way last season. I think where things get a little more complicated with him as a player is feeling pressure off the edge. There were a number of times when it seemed like, you know, an edge rusher would beat one of their tackles and, you know, pretty obvious easy just step up in the pocket, but he didn't necessarily see it or feel it and it wound up being a sack or he would spin backwards, you know, turn obvious, easy, just step up in the pocket, but he didn't necessarily see it or feel it, and it wound up being a sack. Or he would spin backwards, you know, turn his back to the defense and spin out of the pocket, and bad things usually happen when he did that.

There were a couple of pick sixes of, you know, him sort of feeling the pressure and panicking and getting rid of the ball rather than take a sack, or, you know, maybe didn't see a guy, or, you know, I think his development in terms of reading defenses and coverages and seeing things pre-snap, you know, probably needs a little more work. But no question that the talent is there. The physical tools are there. And I think for the most part, people feel like, you know, even though he wound up being a fourth round pick, which wasn't quite as high as a lot of people were expecting or as I'm sure he was expecting or hoping for, does seem like he wound up in a good situation there in Indianapolis yeah definitely so if he does struggle

with pressure the offensive line for the Colts should be able to help out at least in some areas with Eason in that aspect but I wanted to talk a little bit about Eason during the quarterback competition he had this past year against Jake Hainer Christian because from what I've read it was actually pretty close I think Eason run away with that being a former five-star recruit, number one overall quarterback prospect. But is it true that it was pretty close in the end that Easton barely squeaked by? Or what did you learn from that quarterback competition between him and Taylor Hayner? You know, I think it just sort of depends on which way you look at it.

I don't think anybody ever really thought that Jacob Easton wasn't going to be Washington's starting quarterback last year. I think people were surprised that they went through spring and it seemed pretty neck and neck. And they went through the first two weeks of fall camp. But it seemed like, OK, they're still splitting reps. If you just look at what those two guys put on paper for all the things that they track throughout practice, completion percentage and maybe yards per attempt and obviously interceptions and the way they take care of the ball and everything. I think Eason maybe had a slight lead, but it might have been negligible. I mean, Jake Hayner made some plays. I think Hayner turned the ball over a little bit,

a little bit more than Eason did. And, you know, that kind of led people to think that Eason was pretty much definitely going to be the guy. But, you you know I think as long as all things were equal in terms of like the numbers that they they put on the field of practice they were going to go with the the former five-star guy with the rocket arm who's got the upside you know so he didn't seize control of that job maybe the way that you would expect or the way that you'd like to see from a fourth year junior who you know you think at that time is an early-round NFL draft pick type of guy. But I think everybody was pretty certain all along that he was going to be the guy regardless.

When looking at Jacob Easton's stats here, Christian, the Washington was 6-1 last year, and Easton had a completion percentage above 62. He had 17 touchdowns, one interception over those games. Just what was it like watching Easton up close? Because even the Colts management has talked about this before in their post-draft press conference about just fixing his inconsistencies with his footwork and just his accuracy. Other games we saw just on the opposite side of things,

Easton had more interceptions than touchdowns in games where he had sub-62 completion percentage. Just what was it like up close watching Easton and his consistency? Yeah I mean you you it was interesting because it's not like his his more inconsistent or his worst games only came against really good defenses he had one of his best games of the season against Oregon and that was the best defense they faced all season long he threw three touchdowns he had them right in that game they put up 31, which I think was more than anybody was expecting and lost the game. And it was a real disappointing result, but I still thought he

proved throughout that game that like, okay, you know, this is, this is a big time guy. This is an NFL quarterback you're watching, you know, put up some pretty good numbers against a really good college defense. And then, you know, there were some weaker opponents, some teams that didn't even make it to bowl games where he just really couldn't get going. And, you know, they had a late season loss to Colorado that was probably the worst loss of the Chris Peterson era, all things considered. And Colorado just blitzed him relentlessly

and sent pressure, pressure, pressure that got him off his spot, made him uncomfortable, made him get rid of the ball before he wanted to sack him a bunch of times and i think teams figured that out as the season went along that hey you know you can't play coverage against this guy because he's gonna find someone open eventually and he's got the kind of arm where if you give him just the slightest window he's gonna fit it in there so teams really pressured him and you know know, brought extra guys. And you saw, you saw some of the flaws and some of the inconsistencies show up when that happened. You know, it was all about giving him a clean pocket, giving him room and time to operate and

go through his progressions. And when he could do that, he was really, really, really good. And when he couldn't, you saw maybe some of the lack of playing time show up throughout his career where, okay, yeah, this is a guy who hasn't started since his true freshman year. He's in a different offensive system. And they had some other issues offensively too. They did fire their coordinator at the end of the year. I don't think they had the receiver talent that you'd like to pair with the quarterback of that caliber, but there were definitely some flaws in his game that maybe could be ironed out just with a little more experience. When you look at just Jacob Eason overall last year, for the Colts fans listening out there, Christian, what's one game

you'd recommend Colts fans go back and watch if you want to get the full Jacob Eason experience as far as his full potential goes? Yeah, maybe Utah. I think he threw four touchdown passes in that game. He also threw two interceptions, and one of them was a pick six. And he took a sack late in that game that I know that Brock Hewitt, the color commentator on the TV broadcast, you know, kind of harped on, like, hey, this has kind of been the issue here. But in the first half, you know, he saw him make some big-time throws and throw some impressive touchdown passes.

And, you know, Oregon, too, just if you want to see, okay, hey, here's four quarters of this guy looking pretty damn good against a really good college defense. And the game that, you know, I think the game where I was most certain that, okay, yeah, we're watching the only season of Jacob Eason at Washington. This guy's an NFL quarterback.

He's gone after this year. It was their game at BYU. Not the best team they played all year, obviously, going to BYU. That's never an easy trip. And they had just beaten USC the week before, so it kind of had a big game feel to it. And he went in there, and I think he completed 24 of 28 and had three touchdown passes and threw about a 20-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Fuller that went right past the ear hole of a linebacker and over another DB and, you know, between two other DBs in the end zone and looked like he threw it about 110 miles an hour and just kind of fit it into a window that, you know, you could barely imagine that any college quarterback would be able to make that throw. But, you know, that's the thing. There were a number of those. If you just cut together his

highlights and his great plays and, you know, putting touchdown passes to a guy in stride who's barely open, there were enough of those to fill up a highlight reel. But it's those inconsistencies and, like I said, some of those struggles against pressure and going through reads and that sort of thing that I think hurt his stock. Christian, we looked overall at that Washington team that finished 8-5 last year. Was that above that above expectation under expectation and like you hinted at before what was like the weapons that Easton had in front of him as far as offensive line goes as receivers

was it above par just what was that whole experience like for Washington this year and their 2019-20 season how it went yeah I mean they definitely underachieved they were just an ever so slight uh pick by the media preseason to finish second in the north just i mean they were kind of neck and neck with oregon in terms of what the perception was as far as who's you know who's the team to beat in the packswell north this season definitely a team that washington fans thought would and should contend for the division title and would and should contend for the conference title as well. They had all their toughest games at home, pretty light road schedule, all things considered.

It seemed like things sort of set up for them to have a nine or ten win season. But, you know, they just had a they had a few of those duds. Obviously, Colorado was a bad loss. They lost to a Stanford team on the road that really wasn't very good and only scored 13 points in that game. And that was another game where the offense really struggled. And, you know, that was sort of the story of their season. They had several – all five of those losses came by 10 points or fewer. They were right there every week.

For the most part, played pretty good defense. They had some issues in the middle of their run defense, that inside linebacker and that kind of thing but you know really when they lost you were you were usually looking at an inconsistent offense that just could not punch it in in the red zone and you know struggled to move it consistently through the air for whatever reason you know they returned they had a veteran offensive line you know got starting center nick harris who was just drafted in the fifth round by the cleveland browns trey adams went undrafted but was the first team all-conference guy with a ton of experience and um had a senior in jared hilvers who was starting

at the other tackle spot so you know they had a pretty um pretty reliable steady offensive line um you know hunter bryant was the was their their top target. He was a tight end who a lot of people thought would be a mid-round pick, but wound up going undrafted. He was a downfield threat in the passing game, but outside of him, they really just didn't have a ton of experienced playmakers in that receiver core. I think you saw that show up in games where their defense played pretty well but they they probably should have won if they could have made one or two more explosive plays last few questions I had for you Christian appreciate the time here I think the biggest storyline with Jacob Eason that we found out on throughout draft weekend

a player we expected to go in either round two round three end up going middle round four at number 122 of all the Colts. Chris Moritz of ESPN, and I quote here, starts, as teams pull back the onion on Jacob Eason, they found evaluations and information that his work ethic is an issue, accountability is an issue. There's a list about four or five character flaws, unquote. From what you just experienced with Jacob Eason being around him

for the past two years and also from what you know inside the Washington building there, what did you know about Jacob Eason being around him for the past two years and also from what you know inside the Washington building there what did you know about Jacob Eason's workout thing because it sounds like from what Mortensen said on the on the broadcast there there's concerns from NFL teams yeah I mean I hadn't heard that that that it was you know I hadn't heard anything you would you would categorize as a character flaw necessarily I think he was very well respected and well liked by his teammates I don't think he was a bad teammate necessarily. I think he was very well respected and well liked by his teammates. I don't think he was a bad teammate at all. I think guys respected that he came in in the 2018 season knowing that he wasn't eligible to play and he was going to red

shirt and do some scout teamwork. And, you know, by all accounts, he embraced that fully and was all about it and just did his job. And, you know, he never, he's not the type to act like, you know, Mr. Five Star hometown hero quarterback. You know, you owe me. I'm the big man on campus. You know, I think he really liked it at Georgia and made sure that an awkward situation there didn't become even more awkward with Jake Fromm kind of unseating him for the starting job

and left there on really good terms. didn't become even more awkward with Jake Fromm kind of unseating him for the starting job and left there on really good terms. And I think he left Washington with a lot of fans in Seattle and certainly in that locker room. Now, obviously, I can't speak to his work ethic because I didn't see more than 10 false practices or whatever, and I'm not in their meeting rooms or in the weight room with them or anything like that. So, you know, I don't have the full picture there. I don't think Chris Mortensen is one to necessarily make things up, but I never got the impression of Jacob Eason as, you know, being any kind of problem in the locker room or anything like that.

Well, that's good to know, and I'm glad just from your perspective you could be able to shed some information on that because I know a lot of fans were curious about Eason. But the last thing I have for you you christian just about the fit for east indianapolis i know it was an unfortunate slip in the draft for him but i think he wound up in arguably one of the best spots for him long term here he could develop behind philip urs for a year or two i think is a great mentor for him and you have the offensive line in place i know he's more of a a pocket passer he has the rifle arm you have quentin nelson those other players up front

they're one of the top offensive lines in the nfl there what do you like about eason and the fit there they also added in michael pittman jr that's in the draft class as well they're adding in playmakers the out the offensive line i think it makes a lot of sense for eason if he can't develop or next one or two years behind philip urs christian that he could be their quarterback yeah i mean i think watching the draft and kind of monitoring it from a very strictly Jacob Eason perspective, when he doesn't go in the second

and he doesn't go in the third, you're starting to think, oh man, geez, he's going to be a fourth round pick at earliest. Did he make the right call coming out of school? Those kinds of questions are being asked. How far is he going to fall? And then you see a team like Indianapolis take him

and you think, you know what? That's maybe the best place for him possible. I don't know that there's another franchise he could have gone to where you're in as advantageous of a spot as he is. I think the biggest thing is you get to learn behind Phillip Rivers for at least one and probably two seasons. That was something he never had in college. He came in and started as a true freshman at Georgia. He was the guy almost right away. He didn't get to sit, you know, he didn't redshirt. He didn't learn from an established, you know, senior who you kind of could show him the ropes. And when he came to Washington, you know, he had one year in the same room as a senior in Jake Browning while he was redshirting. But then he was the guy and he was the oldest guy in their

quarterback room the next year. So the fact that, that you know he'll be learning from someone who's who's been around and you know from someone who's had the success of the quarterback that philip rivers has and you know mostly just can go in and not feel the pressure to be the guy right away knowing that you know obviously he's going to have to be ready to go i assume at some point he'll he'll be their backup these next couple years but um you're being able to learn from a veteran and kind of being able to dive into the playbook and shadow Phillip Rivers and see what the league is all about and work on some of the things he needs to work on, I don't know that he could have gone to a better situation.

Appreciate the time, Christian. You can follow him on Twitter at Christian Capel. You read over all you want on Washington football at The Athletic with Christian's Courage. Appreciate the time, Christian. You can follow him on Twitter at Christian Capel. You read over all you want on Washington football at The Athletic with Christian's coverage. Appreciate the time. All right. Thank you. Hope you all enjoyed part one of today's episode here into the deep dive of

quarterback Jacob Eason, the Colts' fourth round selection at 122 overall from Washington. Christian Capel really helped us take a deep dive into Eason's game on and off the field. And the more we learn about Eason, I think he's a deep dive into Eason's game on and off the field. And the more we learn about Eason, I think he's a really good fit as far as being a project in the next couple of years to learn behind Phillip Rivers and possibly be that answer for quarterback. But there is really no risk here.

As you look at his contract, projected to be around four years, four to five million dollars overall, so just about a million dollars on average there. First year is going to be sub-million dollars. So I think this move is no risk at all. If Eason pans out, he has the elite tools, the elite measurables, and this is really on Frank Reich now. If he can help mold Jacob Eason, this move makes an awful lot of sense and it could pay huge dividends down the line for this Colts team. But before we dive in, I just wanted to introduce part two of today's show, which will be Chris Ballard and Frank Reich. They had their quotes about Jacob Eason in their post-draft press conference

with the local media. I clipped all those together for you guys about six, seven minutes long here. And it's all about Eason here with Chris Bauer and Frank Reich answering questions about Jacob Eason himself. So let's dive into part two of today's episode on Jacob Eason as we do our deep dive. And I'll talk to you guys on our next episode tomorrow as we recap the Colts draft even further.

That's a good question so we spend a lot of time lining this board up I mean I mean I mean I brought it up today say look we're you know once we'll take a couple days and then we're off to 2021 draft that's what we're going to be working on. So we spent all this time lining the board up and we don't force it. We put them to where we think they, their value is for our team. And at that point, Jacob, Jacob was on the board and, and was at the right value where we had in place. And that's why we took him. So a guy who has all the physical tools to play the position, size, strength, really good arm talent, can make all the throws to all spots on the field. You know, for a big man, I think he has some athleticism to him. Not that he's a scrambler guy. I mean, I think he's a pocket passer, but has athletic ability to move and just think, you know, he's still young and developing in the position.

You know, he doesn't have a lot of miles logged in in one respect. You know, so could have came back another year. But really, we get a chance to, you know, he gets a chance to compete with Chad and see if he can continue to develop. But we certainly saw some tools there that I think that he has some of the qualities it takes to play at this level. It was, we had, I mean, if you know our group, I told them, it's funny, about 15 minutes ago we got off and I told them all, matter of fact,

they're still on, having a good time at each other's house. I told them, I said, one of the things I love about these guys is they're going to tell me what they think. They don't hold back. And you have to have that to get to the right answer. So it was a it was it was entertaining. It was it was definitely lively. But at the end of the day, we had Jacob ranked higher than the other players, so we ended up going with him. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, we take everything into account, and playing this position right at this level, you need to be able to handle that. So, you know, I think Jacob is still young in his journey along that way, has had some ups and downs, but what was so good about the process was we did spend a fair amount of time with him, you know, so that you personally get comfortable with somebody. You get comfortable with them, not just as a football player,

but as a person. You talk to them. You dig deep. You try to figure out what makes a guy tick. And so at the end of the day, it felt like we were able to spend enough time with him to feel that way. But there's a long way to go. He still hadn't even put on a coach uniform and like any of them, you know,

they got to earn it. You know, right now he's competing with Chad Kelly, Phillip rivers and Jacoby are our first two, and Jacob and Chad are competing for the three spot. I mean, let's slow our roll a little bit in terms of, you know, tagging this guy as the next messiah walking into town. He was a fourth-round pick. We didn't move up to the first pick of the draft. Jacob's got talent.

He's got to work, and he's got to earn it. In the draft, as far as the quarterbacks go, you know, he can – and what I liked about his arm talent is, you know, he can throw it on a rope. He can throw it long. He can throw with touch. He can change the speed on the ball, and he can deliver from different arm angles. The accuracy was fine.

He needs to get better. His footwork needs to get better. You know, reading through his progressions needs to get better. There's a lot of things that need work, but physically, he has a lot of the tools. But we all know that playing this position is a lot more than physical. So that's why we spent some time with him, you know, as far as the meetings and protections and just trying to test the mental acumen of this position

and try to get an idea of, you know, how they think as a quarterback. And we would do that with anybody. I mean, we do that. I talked to multiple quarterbacks, you know, during this process, and it was the same process with every one of them. And so Jacob did a nice job. And but like Chris said, there's there's still a long way to go. There's a long way to go, but we're happy to have the way these rooms roll. I mean, it's close knit as every room is-knit and we're all working together but in the quarterback room in particular the way it works is it's like this the starting quarterback it's his room you know and and we and we focus our preparation on the starter on getting him ready um um and then we take extra time you know marcus will take extra time nick will take extra time. Nick will take extra time. I'll take extra time with Chad, with Jacob. As the process goes, those guys will have additional meetings with them. But once we get into training camp and we get full bore, you really got to get ready for the season.

And it's all about getting the starting quarterback ready to play. And for us, that's Phillip Rivers. And so – but it's great for guys like Chad and Jacob to be able to take that all in and then follow up. And it's really engaging, really tight-knit. You have to be. It's a tight room, and it's a lot of fun. I think it's a little unfair. You know, there's leaks, sources, nobody wants to put their name on it. We did a lot of work on him. And he understands, I promise you,

Jacob understands, you know, I've had a visit with him today when I called him. He understands the expectations that we have here. And I think you all have seen. I mean, he's got to make the team. I don't know, fourth-round pick. I mean, still got to make the team. So if he works and hits his potential, you know, he'll be on the squad. I mean, that's, I don't think it's been any different any year I've ever been here.