Cardale Jones gave Urban Meyer no choice, Ohio State needs to start J.T. Barrett

By Barry Leonard Jr. | Oct 4, 2015

Despite being undefeated as a starter, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer needs to bench quarterback Cardale Jones in favor of J.T. Barrett.

It may sound crazy to say that a defending champion, and current No. 1 team, needs to bench its starting quarterback, but that’s exactly the case at Ohio State. Head coach Urban Meyer, who started the year using a two-quarterback system, made Cardale Jones his choice for quarterback. However, starting Jones was the wrong decision.

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A fully healthy J.T. Barrett should be starting this year for the defending champion Buckeyes. He played great last year after Braxton Miller went down with an injury and did nothing that should have warranted him losing the starting job.

All he did last year was throw for 2,834 yards and run for another 938. He tossed 34 touchdowns and ran for 11 to set a new Big Ten record for touchdowns. A Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech was the only blemish on his resume as he led the Buckeyes to 11 victories before breaking his ankle against Michigan in the final game of the regular season.

That injury opened the door for Jones, who began last season as the third-string quarterback.

Of course, what Jones did when he got the chance was both historic and well-documented. He was under center for three huge wins against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon as Ohio State went on a run to win the inaugural College Football Playoff.

However, when analyzing his performance in those three games, the numbers do not really jump off the page. Sure he threw for over 240 yards in each game, but was responsible for just six touchdowns in three games, with three of the scores coming in the Big Ten Championship against Wisconsin.

Everyone is quick to praise the quarterback, but lost in the admiration for Jones is the fact that running back Ezekiel Elliott was an absolute superstar during Ohio State’s run last year. He rushed for at least 220 yards in the last three games and accounted for eight touchdowns.

That kind of production definitely made things easier for Jones.

Fast forward to this season, and Jones has struggled, especially recently. Sure he’s a physical specimen, but the ball he throws isn’t as good as Barrett’s and he also isn’t the running threat that Barrett is.

Of course, Ohio State is still undefeated, but the last few games have been closer than expected. The offense under Jones this year is not as in-sync as it was under the leadership of Barrett last year. Ohio State struggled at home with Northern Illinois a few weeks ago and nearly got upset at Indiana on Saturday. If not for Elliott rushing for 274 yards and three touchdowns at Indiana, the Buckeyes and Jones would be wallowing in defeat.

Jones threw for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the game vs. the Hoosiers. With Big Ten play now started and games against Michigan and Michigan State looming, Ohio State could continue to struggle with Jones at the helm.

Barrett wins the eye test as the better quarterback and has nearly a year’s worth of numbers to back it up. Meyer needs to make a quarterback change before it gets too late in the season.

Next: 30 Best College Football Quarterbacks of All-Time

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