Amongst Ohio State’s embarrassing riches at the quarterback position, Bovada.lv has installed Cardale Jones as more of a preseason Heisman favorite than either Braxton Miller (he of the no transfer) (probably) and J.T. Barrett. A significant number of outside observers also favor the postseason phenom to start the season opener Labor Day vs. Virginia Tech, the lone team to hand the Buckeyes a loss in their run to the first-ever College Football Playoff championship.
One Las Vegas bookmaker, though, has Barrett as the favorite. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer‘s Ari Wasserman:According to Las Vegas betting insider RJ Bell, the founder of pregame.com, J.T. Barrett is the favorite to lead the Buckeyes this season at -125 (43 percent chance).
Next in line is Cardale Jones at +120 (35 percent chance), then Braxton Miller at +250 (22 percent chance).
The fact that Barrett is the betting favorite by one versed in such activities shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, although Barrett’s contribution to the title has been somewhat lost in Jones’ postseason heroics.
As a redshirt freshman who had never started a game at the collegiate level, and taking over for the injured two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Barrett’s play -- after an initial hiccup -- was simply stunning. Stunning enough, in fact, that he was in the thick of the Heisman discussion prior to the broken ankle that opened the door for Jones’ magical three-game run.
In the double-digit, home loss to the Hokies in Week 2, Barrett was harassed into just 9-of-29 passing and three costly interceptions. After that, Barrett went on a tear, finishing the season with a Big Ten-record 45 total touchdowns -- 34 passing, 11 rushing -- and just seven interceptions in the final 10 games.
Because both Barrett and Miller were still rehabbing their respective injuries and the former didn’t participate fully in spring practice, Jones, probably rightly so, is viewed as the favorite heading into the summer. Don’t sleep on Barrett, though; just go back and look at the tape if you need a reason as to why.
