By Charlie Campbell
Weaknesses:
In 2019, Eason completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,132 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He had an inconsistent season, flashing some brilliance at times and below-average play at other times. Eason should have returned for his senior year, but he entered the 2020 NFL Draft.
There is no doubt that Eason has special arm talent, as he possess a right arm cannon capable of making all the throws necessary in the NFL. He can fire fastballs into tight windows and beat good coverage with his ability to rifle the ball past defenders. Eason demonstrates pocket presence and is willing to stand in the pocket in the face of the rush. He stretches defenses vertically and is dangerous to push the ball deep downfield. Eason is accurate in the short to intermediate part of the field and throws some beautiful deep balls.
There are lot of areas for improvement for Eason at the NFL level. He is raw and inconsistent, thus he is a developmental prospect and not a candidate to start right away. Team sources say Eason struggles to process post-snap, which appears in a variety of ways. He holds the ball too long as a result and must get faster at working through progressions. He also has to get faster in the process of reading defenses, seeing his receivers, and getting the ball out. Those are the big issues for Eason, and if he doesn’t fix them, he’s going to struggle at the pro level.
Eason has some other technical issues that are common with big-armed quarterbacks. There are too many throws on which Eason fires fastballs when he needs to put more air underneath the ball with touch passes that are easier for his receivers to catch. Eason should work on throwing a softer and more catchable ball to avoid drops and missed opportunities. While Eason is willing to use his feet, he is not as mobile as he thinks he is, which allows defenders to consistently chase him down. That issue will only be exacerbated in the NFL due to the faster defenders. Additionally, Eason has a tendency to drift backward because of his arm strength when he needs to climb the pocket. Doing that makes his offensive tackles job more difficult because they can’t funnel rushers around the pocket to protect him.
Eason has the arm, size, and pocket presence to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. However, if he doesn’t develop and improve, he could be limited to being a backup. Teams are projecting Eason to be selected on the second day of the 2020 NFL Draft, but his stock is very fluid.
Player Comparison: Joe Flacco/Zach Mettenberger. When Eason played well, he reminded me of Flacco. When Eason was playing poorly, he reminded me of Mettenberger. Eason could end up being something between them as a pro.
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