Colts: Marcus Brady pleased with Jacob Eason’s ‘next steps’

While the Indianapolis Colts already know Carson Wentz is going to be their starting quarterback for next season, questions remain regarding who will be his backup.

It goes without saying that Jacob Eason, who was third string on the quarterback depth chart behind Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett as a rookie, will lead the competition.

Believe it or not, all the recent buzz coming out of Indianapolis concerning the 2020 fourth-rounder suggests he’s the prohibitive favorite to win the backup job.

In fact, that newly-minted offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, who was promoted after Nick Sirianni bolted for the Eagles’ head coaching gig, couldn’t help but rave about the strides Eason has made between his rookie year during his latest media session.

Colts fans will love Marcus Brady’s praise for Jacob Eason.

"“I was very pleased with what I saw over the last few weeks with Jacob, where he’s at,” Brady said. “Physically, you always knew that he could do it, that he had the potential that he was going to improve in those areas because of his arm talent of what he could provide out there. But mentally you can tell that he took that next step, that he’d grown in that area whether it’s making checks at the line, recognizing coverages, recognizing pressure, he did a great job with that.”“Just the conversations that we were able to have that we weren’t maybe able to have last year because of the quarterback room, (it) really wasn’t for him to speak up as much. Whereas this year he’s more involved, you can tell he took control of the unit when he was out there and I thought he did a great job while he was here.”"

As we know, 2020 was essentially a redshirt year for Eason, as the global pandemic forced the NFL to cancel the entire preseason. Not only that, but a mostly virtual offseason and truncated training camp resulted in the former Washington star receiving very few practice reps.

In order to make the best of an impossible situation, Eason felt obligated to stay after practice with some coaches to learn the playbook and refine his mechanics. Brady, more often than not, was on the front lines helping the young quarterback, so if any member of the Colts’ staff knows where Eason has or hasn’t improved, it’s the first-year offensive coordinator.

Arm talent and athleticism has never been a question for Eason, and Brady has been immense in helping the 23-year-old transition to the NFL. Whether that be through helping him understand the variations of handling a pass rush or going through progressions and deceiving a defense with his eyes, Brady has purified so many aspects of Eason’s game.

Eason will compete with rookie Sam Ehlinger and former undrafted talent Jalen Morton for the backup job this offseason. While the second-year quarterback will be put to the ultimate test during training camp and preseason fixtures against the Panthers, Vikings and Lions, we feel confident saying the backup job is his to lose.

It’s pretty clear Brady feels the same way.

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