The Indianapolis Colts are giving Jacob Eason the chance to earn the starting quarterback role while Carson Wentz recovers from foot surgery, but Sam Ehlinger is making plenty of noise right behind him.
What’s interesting about this competition in the quarterback room is the different styles of play that each passer brings to the field. Eason is the more typical pocket passer with a cannon attached to his right arm while Ehlinger is more adept at creating offense with his legs.
Head coach Frank Reich explained a little bit how he sees their individual skill sets.
“Jacob (Eason) has an elite arm. Jacob’s got an elite arm and he’s big, strong, athletic,” Reich told reporters Wednesday. “That’s the one thing about a guy that has that kind of arm talent. There are certain things that you can do with that kind of arm talent that money can’t buy so to speak. You just have to be able to execute good enough, consistent enough to give yourself the opportunities for those big-play capabilities to show down the field.”
The Colts believed that Eason had the best arm talent in the 2020 draft class, which also included Justin Herbert. There are plenty of improvements that need to be made, but Eason has the arm talent to help give him a boost.
When it comes to Ehlinger, Reich sees a player that has proven he can add a dual-threat quality with his legs.
“They’re both athletic but I think Sam (Ehlinger) is a little bit more of a runner, he proved that in college. He makes a lot of plays with his feet. Sam has a good arm but not the elite arm. He finds ways to get it done,” Reich said of Ehlinger. “When you’re that kind of player, that’s what you do and he’s very good at that and the way – I just alluded to a second ago, it’s like, how do I simplify this to find the play that I know I can make and he has a good knack of doing that.”
Eason is the favorite to be the starting quarterback as long as Wentz is out, and he should be the favorite to start in the preseason games. But the contrast between the two skill sets is why this competition will be interesting to watch.
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