Buccaneers: Why Jacob Eason is not the answer at QB

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to be looking for an answer for the quarterback position in the future, but here’s the case for why Jacob Eason isn’t it.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers elected to part ways with former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston after five years of inconsistency from the gunslinger.

The Buccaneers, instead, elected to sign veteran QB Tom Brady on a two-year deal worth $50 million in hopes that he can lead the organization out of a dry spell that has lasted more than a decade.

While Brady is certainly an exciting option and a guy who is determined to win at least one more championship before he hangs it up, the 43-year-old veteran is not the answer for the future. He’s the answer for the present.

Because a franchise is always looking ahead to the future, though, it has to be thought that the Buccaneers have taken some time evaluating several different quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft, as well as in the future couple of drafts.

One of the guys consistently linked to the Bucs is none other than Washington’s Jacob Eason. I’ve written about Eason and given the case for why he could be the future and what he could mean for the organization moving forward.

There are things to like about Eason.

He has an extremely strong arm, has all the measurables and clearly has a high football IQ. But the more you look at the film, the more you will see weaknesses in his game that will staunchly have to be addressed at the next level.

Eason is a pocket-passer with basically little-to-no ability to get outside of the pocket and extend plays. All too often, he takes unnecessary sacks and doesn’t perform well when under pressure. That’s not an attribute you want to see in a potential future franchise quarterback. In addition, Eason needs to improve his footwork and doesn’t throw the crispest passes to the sidelines, either.

Yes, he throws an accurate deep-ball when given the time. Yes, he has a cannon for an arm. But it takes much more than having arm strength to play the position at the next level. Eason struggled mightily at times against Pac-12 defenses- nothing like he will face in the NFL- and made too many mistakes when it came to his reads, which is why you’re not going to see him taken in the first-round.

And then there’s the Bruce Arians factor.

Are the Buccaneers really prepared to use a second-round pick on a guy whose major strength is throwing the deep ball when Arians has made it clear he’s not planning to be around for the long haul? Arians is here to win a championship in the present, but he’s certainly not planning to be around much longer when Eason would be ready to take over as the starting quarterback- which would at least be 2-3 years from now.

There are just too many unknowns for Jacob Eason to be the answer at quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has talent, but would be a major risk for a franchise that is looking to win now and could build for another quarterback in the future.