2019 NFL Draft: Why Tyree Jackson makes sense for the Eagles

With the Philadelphia Eagles moving on from veteran quarterback Nick Foles this offseason and essentially promoting Nate Sudfeld to the backup spot, one could make the case that they should draft a developmental quarterback somewhere in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Unlike the last two quarterback draft classes, which were impressive in their own ways. This year’s class is not as top-heavy with talent and has a few questions that they need to answer in the next coming months.

Luckily for the Eagles, they don’t have to use any of their early picks on a signal caller. But they are projected to have six picks in Day 3 of the NFL draft, which is prime territory for them to select a raw quarterback prospect.

Therefore, if Philadelphia decides to use one of their late-round selections on a quarterback, it should be for Tyree Jackson out of the University of Buffalo.

The 6-foot-7, 249-pound Jackson was a tremendous dual-threat quarterback at Buffalo and immediately became the apple of many draftniks’ eyes this past season.

As a redshirt junior, Jackson had a breakout year, helping the Bulls to win 10 games. In 14 games, he completed 55.3 percent of his passes for 3,131 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He flashed some mobility as well, accruing 161 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

With those type of numbers and winning the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, one would think that he would undoubtedly declare for the draft.

However, Jackson reportedly entered into the transfer portal, opening the door for him to possibly play at a Power 5 school as a graduate transfer. But he ultimately decided to declare for the draft and got a chance to participate in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama last month.

While his measurements stood out, the Michigan native has a lot of intriguing skills that make him an interesting developmental quarterback to try to mold.

One of those intriguing skills that will immediately stand out is his arm talent. Jackson has a cannon for an arm that might remind you of current Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Cardale Jones or Brandon Bridge.

With his size and mobility, Jackson can easily make those 50-yard passes. However, his deep passing accuracy is something that he will need to work on at the next level.

There were numerous times during the season that Jackson missed his wide receivers outside the hash marks/numbers. Sometimes, those mistakes led to an interception, which happened against Temple earlier in the season or just an incompletion.

If Jackson were to get drafted by the Eagles, he would be able to fix those deep passing accuracy issues.

Over the last few seasons, we’ve seen Philly’s offensive coaching staff help Carson Wentz improve his deep passing accuracy.

As a rookie, Wentz only completed 60.8 percent of his passes and had a quarterback rating of 73.5 with 10 plus yards to go. However, in 2017, he had a completion percentage and QB rating of 96.8, despite his season being cut short because of a season-ending knee injury.

Then, when you take a look at this past season, the former second overall pick had a completion percentage of 69.8 and quarterback rating of 97.1.

To further back up these stats, Wentz had passer ratings of 111.9, 112.6, and 128.2 between 10-20 yards across the field last season per NFL Next Gen Stats. That being said, Jackson could learn a lot from Wentz and the Eagles’ coaching staff.

In addition to his terrific arm strength, the 6-foot-7 quarterback has solid footwork in the pocket, but sometimes tries to create a play when nothing is there. 

This is something that a lot of young quarterbacks do when they get flushed from the pocket. But unlike other quarterbacks, who are immediately thinking run, Jackson does keep his eyes down the field.

 

NFLDraftScout.com currently has Jackson ranked as the 11th-best quarterback in the class, projecting him to be drafted between the 6th-7th rounds. If this is the case, then the Eagles should take a shot, especially if Sudfeld continues his development and turns into a quarterback that other teams think he can be a starter.