As stated by Ireland, for selecting a player, his team prioritized the player’s level of skills and athletic prowess, and height is given less consideration there. He believes Jeff has a lot of potentials, enabling him to easily catch the attention of football lovers and earn a spot on his team’s roster. Despite his small stature, the 6-footer had already demonstrated his value as he earned All-Mountain West Conference honors in each of his final two seasons.
“Well, it’s certainly something we had to get over each time we watch the player, because, when you bring up a name, it’s the first thing we see in our computer is ‘6 foot,’ and he’s under prototype. And that ‘6 foot’ is going to be in a different color (on the grade card) than a prototype player. So you’re going to look at him differently when you watch him play, because you’re going to look and see how he creates windows for himself. And man, you wouldn’t think he was 6-foot tall when you watch him,” the GM said.
The general manager at the time compared Jake to Drew Brees, who in 2010 led the Saints to their first Super Bowl victory. Ireland claimed that Brees was questioned for being undersized but later proved his talent, even though he also asserted that the 24-year-old possessed special traits setting him apart from the former Saints legend player.
“He does kind of remind you or there’s some similarities to No. 9 (Drew Brees). He’s undersized, the way he creates windows and processing speed, quick release, the accuracy. I mean there’s only going to be one of those guys forever. You can’t really compare him, and I’m always careful to use the comparison because he doesn’t compare to Drew, he’s the only one. But there are some similarities that make you feel like, OK, maybe he can play similarly to that person,” Jeff added.
The former Bulldog player passed for 2,896 yards on 252 of 350 attempts with 20 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions in his final season with the team. Despite weighing only 207 pounds, the 2022 season saw the 207-pounder complete 72 percent of his passes, setting a program record, and he was also granted entry into the NFL Scouting Combine. Since Carr in 2014, he is the first Bulldog quarterback to receive an invitation.
Haeners’ prosperous time with the Bulldogs, however, demonstrates the reason the team has such high hopes for the quarterback that they have already compared him to their former MVP Brees.
