Jacob Eason's replacement? Prolific Sacramento State QB Kevin Thomson is transferring to Washington

Washington added a quarterback on Wednesday.

Former Sacramento State QB Kevin Thomson said he’d be joining the Huskies for his final season of eligibility. As a graduate transfer, Thomson is eligible to play right away for Washington in 2020.

"We're really pleased that Kevin is returning to play for his hometown school," new Washington coach Jimmy Lake said in a team statement. "He adds a lot of experience to our quarterbacks room and should help raise the level of competition for everyone."

Thomson had the option of returning to Sacramento State in 2020 and was even named the HERO Sports FCS preseason All-American QB in May. He got the honor after winning the Big Sky Conference’s offensive player of the year award in 2019.

Thomson scored 39 total touchdowns and racked up nearly 4,000 total yards as he finished third in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

He joins a wide-open quarterback competition at Washington in Lake’s first season as the team’s coach after Chris Petersen’s retirement. Jacob Eason declared for the 2020 NFL draft after one year as Washington’s starter and Thomson will compete with Ethan Garbers, Dylan Morris and Jacob Sirmon to start for the Huskies.

Thomson graduated high school in 2014 and initially enrolled at UNLV before transferring to Sacramento State. He got two extra years of eligibility from the NCAA after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015.

Sacramento State quarterback Kevin Thomson (5) looks to pass against Arizona State during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Sacramento State quarterback Kevin Thomson was a preseason FCS All-American selection. (AP Photo/Matt York)

3rd high-profile FCS to Pac-12 transfer in 6 years

Thomson follows Vernon Adams and Gage Gubrud as star FCS quarterbacks to make the graduate transfer jump to a Pac-12 team in recent years. And Adams and Gubrud’s FBS seasons went a little differently. So there’s no guarantee that Thomson will acclimate to the Pac-12 and start right away.

Adams transferred from Eastern Washington to Oregon ahead of the 2015 season and threw for 2,643 yards and 26 touchdowns in 10 games that season.

Gubrud, meanwhile, never started a game for Washington State in 2019. He came to Wazzu from Eastern Washington after scoring 87 touchdowns in his FCS career but scored just one touchdown for the Cougars. He was beaten out for the starting QB job by Anthony Gordon, who went on to throw 48 TDs a year ago.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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