Oct 3, 2015; Bloomington, IN, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones (12) throws a pass against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Last year, Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones replaced an injured J.T. Barrett, who had led the team to an 11-1 regular season. In doing so, Jones went on to win three consecutive postseason games for a national championship. Halfway into this season Jones has been inconsistent, raising concern from head coach Urban Meyer even though the Buckeyes are unbeaten.
Barrett, who failed to reclaim his starting job earlier this season, will start for the Buckeyes at Rutgers. Barrett is just a redshirt sophomore and fits the Spread Offense better than Jones so Jones can’t go back to Ohio State. He’s really not a fit for the offense at all but just so happened to have deep threat Devin Smith last year.
NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah said of the decision. “This isn’t a surprise. Jones was so impressive last season, but we haven’t seen the same guy this season. He looks completely out of rhythm and his decision-making has been rough. He has tools that are very enticing to NFL scouts, but he’s incredibly raw.”
Jeremiah’s comments should tell you that Jones is far from ready for the NFL right now. The best move he could make at this time should be to transfer to an FCS school instead of entering the draft. If he enters the 2016 NFL Draft, the chances are he’ll get picked somewhere between the third and fourth round.
All Jones has to do is go to and FCS school with a pro style offense, light it up there, and he’ll get picked in Round 1. Scouts won’t be able to question his competition because he’s won a national championship with Ohio State already. If he goes to a pro system and cleans up a lot of his fundamental flaws, scouts would salivate over him.
He’s already 6’5″, 250 pounds, can run and throw the ball darn-near the length of the football field.
Sometimes, a step back can mean five steps forward.