Remember when the Indianapolis Colts‘ coaching staff was “pleased” and “encouraged” by Jacob Eason’s progress heading into the 2021 season?
Either that was a lie, or Eason fell off a cliff.
We know his appearance against the Los Angeles Rams was far from encouraging when he threw an almost immediate interception to Jalen Ramsey to seal the Colts’ fate, but was that really enough to convince the team that he’s no longer worthy of backup duties?
Yup, that’s right. The writing was on the wall last week during the Titans when quarterback Brett Hundley took the QB2 job from him in a matter of a couple of practices, but now it’s official: Hundley has surpassed Eason on the depth chart.
All fans are thinking right now is how much of a horrible failure this is by the front office.
Brett Hundley remains the Colts' backup this week; he's officially climbed past Jacob Eason on the depth chart. Also, Sam Ehlinger is back and will practice today. Look for him to become a factor. Suffered that knee injury in the last preseason game.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) September 29, 2021
Jacob Eason getting bumped to third string is an indictment on the Colts’ front office.
The failure wasn’t plucking Eason in the fourth round as a developmental project. Not at all! Teams do that all the time with hopes of finding a mid-to-late-round gem who can propel the franchise on the cheap.
What the Colts did wrong here was seemingly expect Eason, after an upside down 2020 during which he had an abbreviated offseason and no preseason to work on his game at the next level, to make considerable strides heading into his second year to the point where he’d be ready to take first-team snaps at the drop of a hat with a wildly injury-prone quarterback in front of him.
Eason as a backup to Philip Rivers? Now that would make sense. He could learn from a traditional pocket passer (which he is) and not be looking over his shoulder every moment worrying if he’d be thrust into game action despite the fact he’s not entirely ready because of an injury.
What's the message to Jacob Eason when he wins the back-up spot, is listed as the 2nd team QB, and as soon as QB1 might be out...a practice squad guy comes up to take his place? That'll build the young guy's confidence*.
— Brett R Rump (@BrettRumpSports) September 24, 2021
*sarcasm
Not only that, but the team officially waved the white flag on the former Washington Huskies signal caller when they opted to kick him down the depth chart in favor of a guy who has started just nine games since debuting in 2016 after handing him the backup job and giving him a total of five NFL snaps.
Poor scouting. Poor planning. Poor development. Unless, of course, there’s something we don’t know. But at this point, we think everything’s crystal clear: Eason isn’t who the Colts thought he’d become and now their quarterback plans are further upended.
Hey, at least it plays into the narrative of the last four years, right?
Colts latest tryouts for secondary another indictment of front office’s bad offseason
The Indianapolis Colts working out a pair of defensive backs on Tuesday is another indictment of the front office's poor offseason.