Colts make final decision on Sam Ehlingher, Jacob Eason on Tuesday

The Indianapolis Colts are making some changes to their quarterback room this week. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger is expected to make his return to practice this week. The Colts had placed their rookie quarterback on IR back on Sept. 2 Following a knee injury. But in order for Ehlinger to join the main roster, room has to be made. So to make room for the former University of Texas star, the Colts have elected to cut fellow quarterback Jacob Eason. 

Colts two young quarterbacks

Ehlinger was selected by the Colts in the sixth round of this year’s draft. The six-foot-two quarterback played his college ball for the Texas Longhorns. In his four years with the Longhorns, he played in 46 games and holds the school record for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season with 16 and also the record for the most consecutive pass attempts without an interception (308) — also a Big 12 record.

In four years at Texas, Ehlinger accumulated 11,436 passing yards, 94 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions. Additionally, he rushed for 1,903 yards and 33 scores on the ground. Ehlinger is second in the Texas record books in both passing yardage and passing touchdowns behind Texas great Colt McCoy.  

Eason was the team’s fourth-round pick in the previous year (2020) out of Washington. However, he started out with the Georgia Bulldogs before transferring after his second year there in 2017. At Washington, he started and played in all 13 games. Eason finished with 260 completions on 405 attempts, with 3,132 yards, 23 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Although he had a year in the Colts system he quickly found himself behind Ehlinger on the depth chart. 

How Ehlinger made a name with the Colts

Ehlinger won admiration from the team in the preseason, when he was starting in the place of Carson Wentz. In his first preseason game in August, Ehlinger led the Colts to a 21-18 comeback win over the Carolina Panthers. Wentz was out before the season even started after suffering a foot injury in training camp. The injury required surgery to repair and was initially believed to sideline him to start the season. As Wentz was making his way back, Ehlinger went down spraining his ACL in the Indianapolis Colts’ final preseason competition. Fortunately, Wentz was able to start the season for the Colts. 

With the return of Ehlinger, the Colts still have three options at quarterback including Carson Wentz and Brett Hundley. If for any reason, Wentz is unable to play going forward look for the Colts to hand the offense over to the rookie as they did in the preseason. Just like Eason, Hundley could not beat out Ehlinger in the months leading up to the start of the season. And if the Wentz experiment does not pan out, the Colts could already have their future franchise quarterback in Sam Ehlinger.