Week 15 of the NFL season represents the biggest opportunity for backup QB Easton Stick’s career. The fifth-year Los Angeles Chargers quarterback is set to make his first career start on Thursday Night Football against the division rival, Las Vegas Raiders.
While Stick has been in the NFL for a while now, he’s only made two appearances to this point — one of which came in relief of Justin Herbert last week when he injured his finger. With Herbert’s finger being broken and putting him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season, it’s Stick’s time to shine. Let’s learn a little bit more about the new Chargers’ starting quarterback.
Easton Stick’s College Career and Hometown
Stick was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he attended Creighton Preparatory School during his high school career. After high school, he went on to attend North Dakota State and play collegiate ball for the Bison.
NDSU is one of the top programs at the FCS level and routinely produces quality teams, year after year. They’ve won nine FCS Championships since 2011.
Stick’s first season at NDSU came in 2014, a year in which he did not see any action on the field. However, that all changed for him in his second season on campus — when he made his first start of his collegiate career.
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In his first season under center, Stick finished 8-0 and tallied 1,144 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. From there on, it was the Stick show for the Bison.
Stick was the team’s starter until he declared for the NFL Draft. He finished his collegiate career with a 49-3 record and is currently the record holder for most wins by a starting quarterback in FCS history.
Stick finished his career at North Dakota State with gaudy numbers. He recorded 8,693 passing yards, 88 touchdown passes, and only 28 interceptions in his four years of action. He also added 2,523 rushing yards and an eye-popping 41 rushing touchdowns.
Stick’s NFL Opportunity
While Stick was a dominant quarterback for the Bison, the FCS level and the NFL are two entirely different playing fields.
Although he’s appeared in some action over the last five seasons, Stick’s exposure to live snaps has been very limited.
Thursday night offers the first chance for Stick to truly show his abilities on an NFL stage with a possible job down the road on the line. Things can change in the blink of an eye in the NFL, and with a good performance on Sunday night, Stick’s entire NFL future could look vastly different than just a week ago.
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