Take Two: Will Eason, Patterson find success after transferring?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football and recruiting worlds. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

MORE TAKE TWO: Who should have been ranked No. 1 in the 2017 class?

The top two quarterbacks in the 2016 class have now transferred to different schools, so the question now becomes can both resurrect their careers at new programs?

Third overall in the 2016 class was Shea Patterson, who moved from Ole Miss to Michigan and will have an opportunity to freshen up the Wolverines’ attack - if the coaching staff will allow it in Ann Arbor.

Fifth overall from that recruiting cycle was Jacob Eason, who lost the starting job at Georgia to five-star Jake Fromm as the true freshmen helped lead the Bulldogs to the national championship game. Eason has since transferred to Washington and should compete for the starting job after next season.

So which one has the better chance to shine at their respective new school? Is one a better fit than the other? Are Patterson and Eason such special talents that Patterson could make Michigan’s offense great again and Eason is walking into a perfect situation with the Huskies?

Can both breathe fresh life into their college careers and remain among the top NFL Draft picks in the coming years?

“I believe (Eason) can. It’s almost the perfect story to recapture the magic he displayed in 2016. Eason would have a better corps of receivers than UW has now when it comes time for him to start in 2019, and he gets to return home. The offense is built for ideally the run game to set up the passing game, which fits Eason well as a pro-style QB. He’s going to have a combination of size and speed on offense to work with that should help.”

“They both have enough talent to be quality quarterbacks. Eason’s situation is an interesting one because a five-star quarterback came in and took his job, but he showed enough talent his freshman year to make you expect that he’s going to be a quality quarterback at Washington, especially in that system.

“Patterson showed enough at Ole Miss to make you think he could change that Michigan offense. It comes down to how much they allow him to do at Michigan. The offense has been pretty stale because they had some pretty stale quarterbacks. They should be able to change it a little bit and let him freelance.

“I would say Eason has a better chance to be drafted first because of his size and his arm strength and the infatuation the NFL has with that, but it’s impossible to pick right now. Both can flop, both could be great. One could flop, one could be great.”