Photo: Jennifer Buchannan, USA TODAY Sports)
QB Jacob Eason and DB Myles Bryant have a lot to prove at the NFL combine this weekend. Both juniors decided to forgo their senior season and strike the NFL marketplace while the iron is hot.
Jacob Eason
The former Lake Stevens phenom, Jake Eason went to the University of Georgia as the top QB prospect in America. The National Gatorade Player of the Year threw for over 10k yards in high school and was tabbed for greater things. As a Bulldog he would throw for 2,430 yards and 16 TDs and the future looked bright. However, a knee injury in 2017 saw the rise of Jake Fromm who would take the Bulldogs to the NCAA playoffs. Seeing the writing on the wall, Eason transferred to UW where he played one year completing 64.2% of his passes for 3,132 and 23 TDs.
Eason is a gigantic person at 6’7 and he has elite arm strength. He can make all of the NFL passes superior to most in threading the needle and range. However, Eason seems to lack pocket presence and an ability to get past his 2nd and 3rd progressions. Blitzing perplexes him and his improvisational skills are nil. Eason looks to be in the vein of a once in a generational talent a la Kyle Boller or Brock Osweiler. That level of talent will have him drafted in the 2nd round to a team who wants to take on the challenge of training him how to be a QB rather than a thrower. In the right situation, he could develop in to a decent play-action QB similar to a Rich Gannon, but in the wrong situation he will wash out.
Myles Bryant
Myles was a walk on at UW, and one wonders how did that happen? The 5’9 184lb DB out of Pasadena was a California All-State selection 3 times but his diminutive sized kept him from a D1 scholarship. A notoriously hard worker, Bryant found the field as a freshman playing in 11 games. He would become a multiple All-PAC12 selection and would have back to back 60+ tackle seasons.
Bryant played the strong safety role at UW and did a fantastic job being a pest. He is physically limited but a high-effort player. He does an amazing job of “getting in the way” and that is a role that could be useful in the NFL. Nickel or dime back would be a great role for Bryant and something that many teams should look at. There is no way that he is taking on OBJ 1:1 on a go route, but he could be very useful frustrating possession receivers at the next level.
