Jacob Eason, the 5-star quarterback, enrolled at UGA today. He enters the next phase of his career as the highest-rated quarterback prospect in the nation for the Class of 2016.
Eason was honored over the past 30 days with a couple of impressive awards: The U.S. Army All-American Bowl National Player of the Year and the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year. He connected for 43 touchdowns and had just six interceptions as a senior while throwing for 3,585 yards in 13 games.
Most UGA fans know he can sling it, but what about the human side of Eason? Think you know more about him than his 3.83 GPA and the fact he brought his new Xbox One to Athens this weekend? He said he injured the thumb on his throwing hand on a helmet at the Army Bowl. It was his only interception.
“Jammed it up pretty good,” said Eason, who hails from the same community as Hollywood action hero Chris Pratt. “It should be good to go in about a week or so. Stuff happens. You just have to move on to the next play.”
What will he study at UGA? It sounds like he’ll start trying to figure out whether it will be sports broadcasting, sports management or a business major.
He’s worn No. 10 since he was “in the eighth or ninth grade” and hopes to wear that in college. So in reference to that, here’s 10 things you might not know about Skinny.
Skinny? Yeah, that’s the 218-pounder’s nickname. That’s a free one.
10 things you might not know about Jacob Eason
- He really likes country music. A lot of his peers are into hip-hop but he doesn’t have a “hype” pre-game song like that. He feels it would jack him up to overthrow guys by about 30 yards. His favorite artists are Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Florida-Georgia Line. He even got a pair of cowboy boots for Christmas to bring to Georgia. His Twitter timeline also includes lyrics from even the old-time greats of country music.
- Eason digs Star Wars. “Return of the Jedi” fan remains his favorite movie of the series. Eason and his older brother each got Star Wars-related throwback Christmas gifts. He’s a big enough fan to think he can hang in a Star Wars trivia contest.
- The nearly 6-foot-6 signal caller calls himself “the No. 1 fan” of actress Blake Lively. He’s tweeted about her often and told DawgNation an ideal Christmas gift would’ve been a Lively movie collection. A Lively calendar wouldn’t have required a gift receipt either. He also brought along a Lively poster for his college room at college. Eason even admitted he’s seen every “Gossip Girl” episode, too.
- His pre-game ritual in high school was to give his mom a kiss before every game. He also prayed to his each of his deceased grandfathers who have passed away during the flag salute.
- He considers himself more of a Matt Stafford-type than a Tom Brady or Peyton Manning brand of field general. “Those other guys are a little less mobile,” he said. “I am more of a Matt Stafford-type who likes to move around out of the pocket, take shots downfield and really loves playing the game.”
- He believes he can throw the football about 65 or 70 yards. That might be a conservative estimate given the lasers he emitted this fall. He also punted for more than 40 yards per kick this year. Just wait until he hits the weight room.
- The freshman QB lets his hair grow out every football season. He likes that look even though his parents aren’t really big fans. He plans to grow it back out for football season for what he calls his “Shaggy Dog” look in the fall.
- He sported a long strip of black eye paint under his eyes at some games this year. He also wore a cross underneath his pads. He was an active member of the Holy Cross Catholic Church community in Lake Stevens, Wash., growing up.
- Eason was an effective behind-the-scenes recruiter. He said he called “five or six recruits” each week trying to get them to join him at UGA. He put a lot of work into reeling in 5-star tight end Isaac Nauta. It worked.
- He was extremely accommodating with fans after his high school games. He even posed with fans for several minutes after one contest in the rain. He also posed for pictures with cheerleaders from the opposing teams.
All player ranking and ratings are from the 247Sports Composite.
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.