Do you think that as of today, Jacob Eason is the 21st-best quarterback in the country? Athlon does.
As expected with any true freshman quarterback, Eason had his share of ups and downs last fall. However, the five-star recruit showed flashes of his potential by throwing for 2,430 yards and 16 scores. Georgia’s supporting cast is a work in progress around Eason, as the offensive line and receiving corps are two preseason question marks. Eason has all of the arm talent to rank among the best in the SEC. Will he take a step forward in 2017?
It would sure be nice if he does, but who the hell knows for sure right now?
Get The Picture 
The potential in this team & this QB makes me very nervous.
They are getting me revved up only to pour water in my tank by the cocktail party…
Is this the year that all those feelings start to turn the other direction?
Haven’t we walked in the desert enough?
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If you can guarantee me today that the offensive line will keep his jersey clean this year and that receivers will catch balls thrown to him (and that referees will call pass interference which they didn’t in the Auburn game), then sure. I’ll buy Eason as AT LEAST the 21st best quarterback in the game.
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Stafford & Murray had NFL talent at receiver and loaded offensive lines, so that’s certainly different from what Eason has. I am also not convinced Chaney is anywhere near the caliber of quarterbacks coach that Richt was.. If Eason improves, it will be one reason: because Jake Fromm is chasing his starting position, not likely because of great receivers or oline. We’re gonna see how competitive Eason is this off-season, if he keeps his job, he’ll be better because of Fromm.
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Wow, how would you like to be Austin Wilson at Coastal Carolina? Nowhere to go but up. Talk about a major chip on your shoulder.
Amazing how fast Darnold rose but that game was epic. Franscois was one of the toughest kids I have ever seen the beating he took. Lamar Jackso should not have won the Hesiman, Watson should’ve but he is still a great player. Not sure I would make him #1. Fitzgerald really is underrated he really played well.
The main reason Eason is ranked so high is potential and the fact there just aren’t that many good QBs. And if he progresses the way Stafford and Murray did, he clearly will be top 20. I have no reason to think he won’t except if Cheney is just not the guy. Eason was drinking from a firehose with no WRs and a very average OL and Chubb still mending. This year I think he makes a huge jump. If Cheney gets it…..
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Stafford’s finished 55th his 2nd year in quarterback rating, Murray finished 27th, so I think Eason ends up in the 30’s or 40’2, 21st is too high. But that should not effect the win totals, teams just win more games in year 2 with a quarterback. Granted, Mark Richt is gone and he was a damn great quarterbacks coach but still, you should see a minimum +2 in wins regardless if Eason ends up 55th like Stafford did or 27th like Murray did, after all, we only won 8 games last year so getting to 10 wins shouldn’t be that hard..
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i think Eason will be better in his second season. I think Stafford improved his completion rate by 3 points and his passer rating by 20 points in year 2. It’s been pointed out on the blogs that Aaron Murray did not improve his second season, and while Murray did get worse in completion rate, and passer rating, he threw more touchdowns and won more games in year two. Our boys won 11 games in Stafford,s second season, and won 10 games in Murray’s second season, so you have to feel pretty good that the team will win +2 (Stafford year 1 to year 2 bump in wins) or +4 (Murray’s year 1 to year 2 bump in wins). I think we’re looking at between 10 and 12 wins.
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Yes that is the point I was making. They were more effective in year 2. Murray threw 11 more TDs as well. I don’t always care about QBR because some offensive systems focus more on completion % and while important, I want TDs and most importantly wins. And as far as comparing QBs, show me 21 other QBs that could play in the SEC and do better this year? He still has to do it but historically speaking looking at the past, I think he will. Just because other QBs have better stats, let’s say at Arizona or Oregon State or NC State or wherever, that doesn’t mean they’d have the same in the SEC.
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I care more about wins than passer rating but no way Eason finishes in the top 30. Eason’s challenges will be he has no NFL talent at receiver, and his line lost three starters and his coach isn’t as good as Richt was at offense. However, Stafford or Murray didn’t have the kind of competition chasing them that Eason does. Bennett and Fromm both put up almost identical eye popping numbers, so Eason will be forced to get better, or he will lose his starter position. Unlike most seasons, I feel great about Fromm or Bennett from a potential standpoint. Aaron Murray/Hutson Mason was a great situation to be in. This year compares from a talent perspective.
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I think WIms and Ridley both play NFL but yes the talent at WR is a big question mark. The difference is Nauta could end up a 1st round pick. He has two stud RBs. Wild cards with Godwin, Woerner, Mecole and possibly Swift. His line lost 3 starters but I think this years line will be much better because of year 2, more depth, more talent although young. Those starters weren’t NFL players so its not as though they aren’t replaceable. But yes, will Cheney become Kyle Shanahan in year 2 or stay……Jim Cheney?
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Ridley & Co haven’t done much yet. Nothing to me says NFL there from a numbers view.Nauta is great but Chaney won’t use him. Rb’s were not productive. Line will not be improved by losing 3 starters, hopefully can be as good, cold be worse. Chaney, please. But…look at the depth of talent at quarterback and how competitive that could be this off season, compare Senior season:
Stetson Bennett 3700 yards, 62% comtn, 119 rating
Jake Fromm 3900 yards, 64% cmpltn, 123 rating
Jacob Eason 3600 yards, 70% cmpltn, 136 rating
Like I say, Jacob better get better quick or he’ll be riding the pine.
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Chaney must be chomping at the bit by getting two Drew Brees type guys in Bennett and Fromm. These are both definately the Chaney type. Eason is really Mark Richt’s guy. I think Chaney wants more leadership and mobility from his quarterback that Eason lacked last season and that Chaney had with Brees back in the day. Smart also wants mobility and leadership at quarterback, Smart’s said it time and again. Eason might not be the right fit moving forward unless he grows and develops this off-season a lot, but is he that competitive? He didn’t seem super competitive last season to me, seemed sort of laid back surfer dude on cruise control.
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Nope…….got #78 for now, just a bunch of hype and air for me. I see from this link, there were 8 freshman that had a better year last year:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2016/leader/national/player/split01/category02/sort01.html
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Compare 1st years:
Stafford 1750 yards, 53% completion, 109 rating
Eason 2430 yards,55% completion, 120 rating
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I hear ya…but Stafford’s second year he had a 128.9 rating. If you are comparing the two, compare it to his second year…not much of an improvement imo (120-128). Stafford had a great 3rd year though. I think that Stafford is a much better pro qb than college, more interested in what Eason can do at UGA.
I am just not sold on Eason just yet, great arm and great potential….but so far, that is all it is for me ..potential. I think Eason will be in a dawg fight with Fromm just to continue as a starter. I hope the competition makes them both better…the dawgs need a leader at the qb position, not sure if we have one just yet. Just skeptical at this point, I hope Eason proves me wrong.
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So Eason first year seems to compare fairly to Stafford’s second year..is that your point?
I just hope we have a QB that wins something of consequence some time soon. It has been too long since DJ took the snap.
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I hope he doesn’t take a 41-10 beat down in Jax like Stafford did. For all of Murray’s faults he was 3-1 in that series and no blowout losses. Probably the reason I think so highly of his tenure. Wish we could have had the defense to compliment him.
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Agree, Murray is a very underrated qb at UGA…one of the best imo.
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No, not at all..he was comparing – not me. Was just saying if you are gonna compare, compare it to Safford’s second year to see the potential improvement. Too me, the only comparison to Stafford is that they were both 5 star qb’s coming out of HS.
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On any team run by a coach like Smart, the QB’s performance is highly sensitive to all of the other moving parts of the team – even defense and special teams, since those units are dictating field position and hence playbook.
All I know is this: Eason won’t be what holds this team back. But he also won’t be in a position to put the team on his back. Kirby’s a LOS disciple, and the line of scrimmage personnal aint there yet.
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How many play in the SEC? Hurts and Francois play for much better teams. Darnold is a redshirt. That list includes guys from SMU, Duke and UCF. Hype and air, seriously? People said the same thing about Murray and he ended up the biggest passer in SEC history and would’ve had a national title in 2012 had we had any semblance of defensive depth and had recruited the roster properly. He may not end up 21 but he isn’t all hype and air…..just ask pro scouts what kind of year he had given a 1st year staff and no talent other than McKenzie and Sony (Chubb was still coming back to 100%). Compare him to Patterson or Fitzgerald.
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Behind last years line? Heck he may have been Number 1, but unless the line plays better we will never know.
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Wise guys in Vegas think more highly of Eason as they have him on the sports books for Heisman. Don’t recall specific odds (and thus ranking) but he’s on the lists while many above him in these rankings don’t appear.
Put I passed on betting on our 2nd string QB. 😉
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Smart and recruits are praising Fromm more than Eason, so don’t think it’s locked up, Eason is gonna have to make a quantum leap in the next 12 practices or Fromm will start. It’s also intangibles like leadership, and competitive drive, apparently Fromm has the edge over Eason there, and from a mere athletic standpoint, none can touch Stetson Bennett who excelled at basketball, baseball, and football in high school (reminds me of dare i say it, Buck Belue). So you got a Stafford type, a Murray type, and a Buck Belue type, would love to watch these 3 battle in the ring all spring..
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Fromm will lead uga to a championship
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The lines of scrimmage should be much better in 2-3 years…that’s for sure.
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Might be right, Fromm delivers: he reminds me of Drew Brees size and talent with the competitive fire and leadership skillz of Tebow.
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You know, I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, troll-wise, and then you had to go and spoil it with this comment.
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If Eason can’t learn to throw his receivers open then he will be beat out. Last season he would wait until the receiver was open then throw the ball as hard as he could. This one reason was why our receivers caught so many balls out of bounds. He had no touch on his passes, the kid might turn out to be Jeff George type, all arm but nothing else.
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