Carson Wentz injury paves the way for Jacob Eason
The Indianapolis Colts certainly do not want Carson Wentz out for any amount of time, but his latest injury paves the way for Jacob Eason.
The Indianapolis Colts certainly didn’t want or need any injury news early in training camp (or at all) regarding their new franchise QB Carson Wentz. The Colts acquired Wentz from the Eagles earlier in the 2021 offseason for a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Although the Philadelphia Eagles are certainly disappointed about Carson Wentz not working out for them, they ultimately are still rooting for him this year because they could potentially receive a third first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft if the Colts make the playoffs and Wentz plays 70 percent of the team’s snaps or more.
His injury history is the obvious reason why that condition was added to the trade, protecting the Colts from giving up way too much for a guy who may not even be able to stay on the field for them.
As is always the case, though, an injury to one player allows a team to get a look at another player they would have otherwise not gotten. For the Colts, the Carson Wentz injury — which will keep him out “indefinitely” — paves the way for 2020 draft pick Jacob Eason.
Colts' QB Carson Wentz is out indefinitely as he undergoes further testing on a foot injury that he suffered at the end of Thursday's practice, per @MikeWellsNFL and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 30, 2021
Colts' second-year QB Jacob Eason took the starter reps at today's practice, with Sam Ellinger as his backup.
Eason’s presence won’t likely prevent the Colts from pursuing an experienced player to perhaps give them some insurance now with Carson Wentz dealing with this foot injury, but he has long had very intriguing traits.
Coming out of high school, Eason committed to Georgia where he was the starter in 2016. The gunslinger completed just over 55 percent of his passes as a freshman for the Bulldogs, and with Jake Fromm and Justin Fields entering the mix, Eason got out of Athens and moved back to his home state in the upper northeast, playing one season at Washington.
In that one season, he showed some major improvements from what we’d seen at Georgia, completing over 64 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
Still, Eason was more “tools” than production over the course of his collegiate career, and because of his time competing at Georgia and being required to sit out for transfer rules, we didn’t get to see as much of him as we would have liked to make a full and more accurate projection and evaluation coming to the NFL.
The Colts obviously didn’t think the 2020 fourth-round pick was ready to be their starter after Philip Rivers retired, and they invested heavily in Carson Wentz. Still, Frank Reich has done a great job with a number of quarterbacks and he can scheme an offense for Jacob Eason.
The Colts will rely on their strong running game but Eason can really sling it and has tremendous arm talent. He can be reckless with the ball at times, but this will be a fun prospect to watch since he didn’t get a preseason to play in 2020.