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Cardale Jones just led his Ohio State Buckeyes to an historical 42-20 win over the Oregon Ducks in the first ever College Football National Championship Game, and now the quarterback is pondering a jump to the NFL. After defeating Heisman Trophy winner and assumed number one overall draft pick Marcus Mariota, Jones has seen his 2015 NFL draft stock skyrocket... but the QB, who was Ohio State's third-string starter, is still weighing up his options, but doesn't believe he's resady for the NFL yet. Were he to enter, there would be plenty of teams — the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills among them — who could use him.
Ohio St QB Cardale Jones doesn't believe he's ready for the NFL yet. » https://t.co/YQvHyzMGaf
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 13, 2015
Said Jones — who has only started three games in his career — of his declaring for the NFL draft, "It's up in the air, sort of, because my No. 1 priority is graduating from Ohio State University and walking away with something that no one can take away from me," according to ESPN.
On Tuesday, ESPN report that Jones added, "I mean, it's very odd. You know, I'm going to be starting three games in three years, and you know, guys play their whole career to have that buildup and have that motivation to play in the NFL. In my personal opinion, I'm not ready for that level yet. I mean, like coach [Urban] Meyer said, it's a conversation me and him will have later down the road. But to me right now, it's far out."
Cardale Jones becomes 1st QB in college FB history to get a ring for every start (Big Ten title, Sugar Bowl win, national title)
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 13, 2015
As Yahoo! Sports's Dan Wentzel reports, Jones said that "It's something I will probably consider. But my focus is my degree."
"I don't know," added Jones, "I live, not just football, but I take everything one day at a time. In my opinion [he'll be back for a redshirt junior year], but you never know what the future holds.
"It's definitely a 'Who knows?' right now," he continued. "It's up in the air right now."
Cardale Jones: 3rd career start; the fewest by a starting QB to win a national championship game
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 13, 2015
ESPN draft expert Todd McShay compares Cardale Jones to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger, or at least, "an extremely raw version," of Big Ben.
Says McShay, "This has to do with Jones' big, strong frame (listed at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, compared to Roethlisberger's 6-5, 241), his impressive arm talent and his ability to extend plays with strength and mobility."
Mel Kiper thinks Cardale Jones will go somewhere in Rounds 2-3 if he enters the draft. I'm not sure he'll go that high, but he should try.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 13, 2015
McShay adds that "The biggest question NFL teams would have to study in evaluating Jones is his mental makeup, because that's just such an unknown at this point given his inexperience." In addition, McShay points out, Jones has been "careless with the football at times, and he has been late on his reads."
no reason for him to stay. haven’t thought it out past that. RT @RealMarcKoniski: how do you feel about this cardale jones to the nfl hype? — Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) January 13, 2015
But still, McShay says that before the College Football Championship game, he figured Jones to be a seventh round draft pick, or perhaps even go underrated, yet, "after seeing the way he performed in the championship game win, including the fact he was able to go through his progressions and display outstanding poise, I think he's more in the fourth- or fifth-round range," adding that he'd texted NFL scouts who confirmed his read of Jones' draft stock.
As NBC Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith says:
Cardale Jones will probably be a backup next year. So why not get paid to be a backup in the NFL instead of staying at Ohio State for free?
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 13, 2015
Yahoo! Sports's Shaun King believes he should enter the draft, saying "his inexperience won't matter" and the two things working in his favor are timing and the fact that the draft is thin at QB.
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