Cardale Jones will have to compete with J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller for playing time this summer and throughout the fall, but the championship-winning Ohio State quarterback doesn’t regret his decision to return to Columbus.
Jones’ meteoric rise from being a quarterback most known for his hot takes on academics to a legitimate NFL prospect left him with little time to decide whether to turn pro or return to school. Ohio State won the College Football Playoff final on Jan. 11; Jones announced his decision to stay a Buckeye Jan. 15.
Would more time to decide have altered the conclusion to which Jones came, though? Via ESPN’s Austin Ward:“I don’t know, I always say that if I had more time, maybe it would have been a different decision,” Jones said. “But in my personal opinion, having more time I would have had a chance to weigh the pros and cons of coming back to school as well.
“My main thing was coming back to school to graduate so that when I do have a chance to go to the NFL, I don’t have to worry about taking classes in the offseason. I want to be done with school when I’m done with school so I can devote all my time to being a great father and NFL quarterback.”
No matter how much he plays this fall, Jones’ cannon arm and massive build will make him a top NFL prospect for 2016’s draft. Few teams have had a better quarterback headache to deal with in recent memory -- does one of two previous Heisman Trophy contenders win the job, or does the guy who beat Alabama and Oregon to win a championship earn it?
The always-quotable Jones has a pretty good line in Ward’s story about living in the moment (and next year’s draft), so check it out here.
