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Jun 25, 2022Liked by Seaside Joe

I'm all for Jacob Eason lighting things up like nobody before him and leading the 'Hawks to twenty years of undefeated seasons and being mystically transported directly into the Hall of Fame even before his career ends, but odds are it won't happen. I hope he has a good radio voice because that's his best chance of staying in pro football.

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This article is good, got me thinking. There have been, what? 56 Super Bowls? Nine QBs have won 2 or more, and multiple game winners include: Tom Brady (7 wins), Joe Montana (4), Terry Bradshaw (4)m and Troy Aikman (3). Fourteen QBs have accounted for 39 of the SB wins.

Brady and Montana are often considered the greatest, and they were drafted in the 6th and 3rd round.

I mean, QB selection is as much art as science. Sure, Elway, Manning(s), and Phil Simms are examples of QBs drafted early with the size, arm, resume to warrant the trust of a team's lead position.

But there are way way way more Jacob Eason types than there are Ken Stabler or Bob Griese.

Eason reminds exactly no one of any QB that's ever won the SB. Not, no even Dilfer.

But look how good Eason looks on paper. He could easily been seen in measurables as a candidate to start for an NFL team.

It's why I keep bringing up Carroll's philosophy because he's trying to buck the system by winning with an average QB. A guy that's part of the team and not the whole team. He thinks he can build around a Flacco, Foles, or Hostetler, or Brad Johnson and win with a complete team effort. I applaud that kind of thinking.

Fans get excited about the star QB or an LOB defense. Catchy titles and star power sells through the media, and that's what drives the casual fan.

I'd love to see Pete pull it off with an Drew Lock, but most of us realize it won't work that way. Eason can't, Geno will find a way to have that remarkably bad turnover at the exact wrong time, but Lock has just enough to make me wonder. So I'll watch. Because we here are not casual fans. We'd actually have our most fun season ever to see a team that's not supposed to win, win, or even win big. Again, it PROBABLY does not happen, but it makes it interesting.

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It was frustrating watching Eason play at UW and never live up to expectations, then leave after one season. I of course hope the lights come on for him and he becomes a great QB. But it's unlikely because playing QB in the NFL is about so much more than obvious measurables. It's mainly about evaluating complex situations on the fly and making great split second decisions. The best master those skills and then have adequate measuables to get the ball to the best option. Better measurables is of course better, but not if your processor isn't adequate to take advantage. Relatively few have had the grey matter skills to take full advantage of their physical skill set.

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Thank you Kenneth. I really enjoy these in depth reports on our players and coaches, as we get a bit of an idea who they are, where they came from and how they got here. After reading this it is more clear than ever that Eason would have to be a Hallmark-Channel-plotline-worthy story to become QB1 for a pro team. He does seem to be a calm, level-headed dude, with a good attitude about his struggles with the game. That may be his best trait in ultimately living a happy life, and his worst trait in succeeding at the pro level. It's tough to realize your potential if you are not also obsessed with being the best QB in the room. His comments about learning from Rivers and Brissett sound nice, but don't indicate much confidence in himself.

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Thanks for the insight in Eason! Safe to say he is pretty much a camp arm, given that the cost of QB1 + 2 is so minimal. And I’m sure Pete is very happy about that - Geno can be that game manager, we can see what we actually have in Waldron being able to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers.

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