SEATTLE — In retrospect, Ben Burr-Kirven might have told us everything we needed to know about Washington’s 2019 quarterback competition.
It’s one thing to give props to the scout-team quarterback for the sake of being a good teammate and acknowledging the hard work of younger players still waiting their turn for stardom. It’s quite another to invoke the name of Brett Favre while doing it.
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That’s what happened in December when I asked Burr-Kirven, who was an All-American linebacker last season, for his assessment of Jacob Eason, the former five-star prospect and Georgia transfer who spent his mandatory sit-out year running the Huskies’ scout-team offense.
“He does things that you don’t normally see on a football field,” Burr-Kirven said then. “Like I said, physically, the throws he can make are almost unnatural sometimes. He’ll be throwing the ball across his body, on a line, 40 yards across the field, and you just don’t see that very often, other than maybe watching Brett Favre tape back in the day.”
Defensive teammates such as Jordan Miller and Byron Murphy joined Burr-Kirven in marveling at the things Eason was able to do against UW’s starting defense in practice, and coordinator Jimmy Lake said he often gave Eason the simple mandate to “dice us up” during scout periods.
So Friday’s announcement by coach Chris Petersen — that Eason will begin the season as Washington’s starting quarterback — feels more than a little inevitable, even if third-year sophomore Jake Haener made this more interesting than many assumed.
“You take it as long as you can,” Petersen said, “and you’ve got to make a decision and roll with it.”
Here are other key takeaways from Petersen’s session with reporters Friday, and what you should expect from the quarterback position going forward.
1. Haener is going to play against Eastern Washington
Why? It’s simple, Petersen said: “He should, he deserves it, and he will.”
It’s unclear whether that means Haener will get one or more full series in the first half, or if Petersen might wait until the second half to mix him in. But judging by how definitively Petersen stated this, I would expect Haener to see some action long before anything resembling garbage time (if there even is any).
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That doesn’t mean the competition is ongoing. It’s not. Eason is the guy, and Petersen made that clear, too, when asked whether he might continue playing Haener beyond the opener.
“We’ve set our plan moving forward, and you’re always adapting and adjusting depending on how things go,” Petersen said. “We’ve got our guy. We’re not having anybody look over their shoulder, but we’ve got a plan on how we’re going to do this. It’s important to have a good plan. You over-plan, you adapt and adjust as the seasons go.”
The key phrase there: “We’ve got our guy.” Eason is QB1, and Haener is QB2. There is no uncertainty about that. But Petersen and coordinator Bush Hamdan obviously have a lot of respect for the way Haener goes about his business, and they want to acknowledge that by giving him some playing time. And if that helps keep him engaged and lessens the likelihood that he might seek a transfer, then all the better.
It makes sense to keep Haener involved for as long as is feasible, but I’d be surprised if Petersen continues to play two quarterbacks beyond nonconference play, especially if early returns on Eason are favorable.
2. The decision came down, in part, to ‘a gut feeling’
Petersen used this term a few times, including when asked whether a player’s perceived ceiling or upside factors into a decision like this. He said that’s definitely part of it.
“I think all those things matter,” he said. “It’s not going to be any one thing, and I think a lot of this comes down to a gut feeling. You’ve got to let a guy go play and let him grow in games and all those type of things. That’s why Jake Haener is going to play some, because he deserves it and he doesn’t have much legitimate game time himself. I truly mean this: We’re excited about this QB position, and we’ll see.”
It might not sound like much, but I think this comment is somewhat telling. It truly sounds as if the quarterbacks put forth similar results during practices and scrimmages, and if Petersen had to make his decision based solely on what he saw on the field, it might not have been as clear-cut (though I still think Eason took better care of the ball, and that’s an important factor). But when you have a 6-foot-6, 227-pound passer with one of the strongest arms anybody around here ever has seen, you have to consider how much higher that player’s ceiling might be than the players against whom he is competing.
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Eason looked solid during camp, but even if he hadn’t, his potential is too much to leave on the sideline. That’s why Petersen is wise to “let a guy go play and let him grow in games” when it comes to Eason.
3. Petersen and Hamdan are more empathetic than most to the runners-up
Part of Petersen’s desire to play Haener stems from his own background as a player, which he said included losing out on a starting job he thought should have been his.
“I thought I should have been the starting guy all along, and I mean that sincerely,” Petersen said. “And that’s part of my story, and part of my empathy for some of these guys, how bad that they want to do things and how much time (they put in), and they still think they’re the better guy, and we respect that. Coaches have got to make the decisions.”
Petersen made a similarly difficult decision in 2008 with the guy who would become his offensive coordinator a decade later. Hamdan was a fifth-year senior quarterback for Boise State at the time, and redshirt freshman Kellen Moore beat him out for the starting job. Petersen loved everything about Hamdan as a person and teammate, but ultimately knew Moore had the greater upside and gave BSU a better chance to win — and, of course, Moore went on to set every major passing record in school history.
Some of the same logic applied in 2015, when Petersen chose Jake Browning to start over redshirt freshman K.J. Carta-Samuels and fourth-year junior Jeff Lindquist. Petersen said that, too, involved a “gut feeling.”
Choosing Eason was far more obvious. He has legitimate NFL size and arm talent, and he’s also the most experienced quarterback on UW’s roster, having started as a true freshman at Georgia in 2016. He’s the guy fans have been clamoring for, and expectations are off the charts for what he might bring to the Huskies’ offense.
Petersen did the best he could to quell that hype, and rightfully so. Eason had a competition to win, and the job never was going to be handed to him. But now that everyone knows he’s the guy, all that giddy speculation can begin anew.
(Top photo: Christopher Mast / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)