Cardale Jones: Ohio State QB Should Not Have Declared

Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones decided to leave school and declared for the 2016 NFL Draft, but that was not a smart decision.

Cardale Jones had a very good career at Ohio State but deciding to go to the NFL is not the best route for his future in football. Jones’ big arm helped with his undefeated record, but the success as a whole was more due to the talented players surrounding him.

Speaking of his arm, there is no question that his arm strength is great. However, that is his one of only a few positives going for him as a quarterback. NFL defenses will be able to take away his deep ball quickly. Jones did a decent job running the ball, but that is not something he or a team can or should rely upon.

Cardale Jones struggled to go through progressions, his footwork was inconsistent, and accuracy was an issue. His 61.7 % accuracy this past season is misleading because there were three games where Jones threw less than 10 times in three games and less than five times in two games.

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Cardale Jones has never been shy to express his thoughts, no matter how controversial. Remember, he was never a team captain, but J.T. Barrett has been given that honor multiple times. Jones also was never guaranteed to start the following week. That said, essentially as a part-time player, Jones’ has many areas of his games that he needs to improve upon before the NFL can ever be realistic.

Looking forward, who is a good comparison for Jones? Former LSU quarterback and the Oakland Raiders 2007 number one overall pick JaMarcus Russell comes to mind. He was a similar size to Jones who also had a huge arm, and was mobile when needed. Yet, he was unable to do anything but throw the deep ball which led to no success.

It is not as if Jones had to declare for the draft. Since he had graduated, the graduate transfer option was allowed but that was not going to happen. Jones was not a fan of going to school since he went to college to play football early in his career and that did not change as he did not want to be in college at 24 years old. However, transferring would have been the best route to go. Jones’ opinion is actually shared by other collegiate athletes.

On the other hand, most of those athletes take the pros and cons in stride to make their college life memorable. Cardale Jones would have given NFL teams more film on him while simultaneously improving the areas of his game that needs to upgrade.

We do not know all that went into his decision to enter the 2016 NFL Draft, but since Jones is a Buckeye, hopefully, he gets to go to an organization who can develop him.

Cardale Jones can have a role in the NFL, but he needs multiple years to develop. Whichever team drafts or signs him as a undrafted free agent must have a good backup and starting quarterback already on the roster.

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Jones should not be under consideration until the fifth round at the earliest.

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