COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cardale Jones might not start for the Ohio State Buckeyes next fall.
Try to let that sink in. It’s hard to believe that could happen after watching him lead the Gray team past the Scarlet team 17-14 in the Buckeyes' spring game Saturday.
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On one hand, Jones is in the same hallowed class as Rex Kern and Craig Krenzel, the quarterbacks who brought Ohio State its last two national championships in 1968 and 2002, respectively. Only Jones did it by beating Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon in the first College Football Playoff. He'll always be a hero in Columbus.
Yet, he’s also stuck in the most-watched three-way quarterback race in the history of college football with Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett, two quarterbacks with their own worthy credentials.
You saw the fawning over Jones at the spring game. It’s the unrelenting praise that comes with giving a football-worshipping campus that put almost 100,000 people in the stands for a scrimmage what it wants. It’s all Cardale, all the time.
“Cardale! Cardale!”
“Cardale, over here!”
“We love you, Cardale!”
Even when Cardale does wrong — he threw an interception to roommate Tyvis Powell — Cardale does right. He laid Powell out into the sideline and posed for a selfie afterward. Almost 100,000 people cheered.
The legend grows with each tall tale about “12 Gauge,” the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Bunyan-like figure who might be a first- or second-round pick in the NFL Draft if he doesn’t start. Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs tells it like this.
“You know he’s the biggest arm in college football,” Coombs told reporters during spring practice. “He threw a field go route, (in practice), I don't know, 35 yards on a rope. There aren't very many guys who can do that.
“He can do that without a big windup. He has a great skillset.”
You want to say, “C’mon, man,” but then you see Jones throw that rope twice at Student Appreciation Day. Then you see Jones loft the ball more than twice as far — 74 yards, to be exact — in a three-way skills competition with J.T. Barrett and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith. Then you hear Jones say this afterward.
“That’s it?,” Jones asked. “My arm was kind of tired. I probably could throw it a little farther.”
How did this happen? Ohio State coach Urban Meyer noticed the change in Jones in the month of preparation before the Buckeyes beat Alabama 42-35 in the Sugar Bowl.
“That's where I really, really saw a complete transformation from a young boy to a grown man, and it was impressive,” Meyer said. “He's continued on his journey. It's been very good.”
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Jones showed off the long arm Saturday. He finished 19-of-42 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Jones lofted two of those deep balls to Corey Smith for touchdowns, a day that will be over-analyzed for the next four months. Ohio State used the run as a novelty. Still, Meyer isn’t making excuses. Jones had a good spring, but Meyer said this wasn’t a Cardale day.
How can Jones get better? He’s working on the usuals. Be a vocal leader. Don’t tell teammates what to do. Show them.
“Carrying this leadership over to the weight room, and the summer conditioning, things like that,” Jones said. “So the guys I’ll be going with can see that they can trust and believe in me, and they know I got their back.”
Now, the competition with Barrett and Miller will lie dormant until training camp, and it’s still anything but a done deal. Ask 10 Buckeye fans who should start (we tried), and it goes something like this: Jones five, Barrett three, Miller two. But Meyer gets the final call, and he’s repeated the same company line. Get Cardale reps, get J.T. reps, get Braxton healthy. We might know an answer by the middle of training camp.
Expect limited exposure until then. Jones fielded less than three minutes worth of questions after the spring game. Meyer knows what is coming next, and he’s prepared. Let the competition begin. Everything counts.
“I’ll come up with some system throughout training camp where we chart everything that everyone does,” Meyer said. “We’ve kind of done it, but not to the degree that we’re going to do this year because you have to be right on now. This can’t be, 'Well, I’m going with him because it’s my gut feeling.'”
In the meantime, the legend will swell this summer. The Buckeyes are heading to the White House. Will President Obama weigh in on the quarterback situation? Of course he will.
“So it’s now just starting to sink in that we’re going to the White House in a few days,” Jones said. “We knew the trip was coming, but I put it in the back of my head.
“Only the champions in each sport get to go to the White House, and there’s only one championship ever year. Not just me and my teammates to experience this; and Coach Meyer, it’s his third. It’s unbelievable.”
The same could be said for Jones’ improbable rise to the top. He’s learned from his one mistake — that infamous tweet about, “Playing school.” He’s equipped to handle the hype, maybe even moreso than Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston were the last two seasons. Now, Jones needs to go win the starting job.
Cardale Jones might not start for the Buckeyes next fall. Man, that’s hard to believe.
When will Meyer let us know if that really is going to be the case?
“There’s going to be a lot of people interested,” Meyer said. “I know you guys, but the families and players, much more. I want to be able to look those people in the eye and say this is where we’re at and not be a shocker when it happens.”
