Former Huskies QB Brock Huard says Jacob Eason should return to refine game

A former NFL and Huskies quarterback is among a growing crowd that thinks Washington’s Jacob Eason should return to school for his senior year.

It’s not as though he’s playing poorly for the Huskies. Eason (6-foot-6, 227 pounds) has passed for 2,472 yards, 20 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while completing 64 percent of his passes in his first year in Washington. Eason spent his first two seasons at Georgia, then sat out last year after he transferred.

But the Huskies have cooled off after starting the season 4-1, going 2-3 since then with recent losses to Oregon and Utah. Washington takes a 6-4 overall record and 3-4 conference mark into Saturday’s crucial Pac-12 matchup at Colorado.

Eason has spent much of the season as a Day 2 or even a Day 1 draft pick in most mock drafts. And with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s injury, Eason has the opportunity to move up draft boards, should he opt to enter the 2020 NFL draft.

But former QB Brock Huard told the Seattle Times that Eason would be better of returning and spending the extra time refining his game.

“He should come back to school. That would be my opinion,” Huard told the Seattle Times. “(He can improve with) handling pressure, and not just the pressure from the outside world. Handling the X’s and O’s pressure and just that movement in the pocket. And then just developing touch. Developing a real second pitch. The fastball’s amazing. But the secondary stuff, to me, still has some work to do.

If Eason can do all that and feels like the Washington staff gives him the best chance to refine his game, then staying “would be a no-brainer for me,” Huard said.

Rob Rang, NFL draft analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, said much the same in the Seattle Times article. Rang lauded Eason’s arm, calling it the “best … of any quarterback in the country,” but also said Eason remains raw and would be better served with another year at Washington.

“… I see a guy who has so much talent that some team would take a gamble on him in the first round,” Rang told the Times. “But then he’s going to go sit. He’s not going to play, or he’s going to get pushed onto an NFL field way too soon and it’s going to stunt his growth.”

Sticking around for another year doesn’t guarantee future success, either, as the Times also pointed to the careers of Huard and Jake Locker, two UW players who came back for their senior years, only to have a disappointing final year in college.

Eason is the No. 24-ranked player in the latest Fanspeak big board.

Jacob Eason was stellar in Week 4 for the Huskies. pic.twitter.com/Xt7BHti0S2

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 26, 2019