Cardale Jones NFL Draft Stock: Where will Ohio State QB be drafted?

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones is leaving school early and declaring for the 2016 NFL Draft but is the backup signal-caller a first round pick?

In a move that won’t come as a surprise, Cardale Jones is leaving Ohio State early and throwing his name in the 2016 NFL Draft. The one-time Buckeyes starting quarterback burst onto the national scene in last year’s Big Ten Championship Game when he started in place of the injured J.T. Barrett and led Ohio State to wins against Alabama and Oregon int he College Football Playoff to win the national title.

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It was a story straight out of Hollywood for the former third-string quarterback who turned into an overnight sensation.

He was more of a caretaker to the offense than the reason they won the title, but his rise to stardom had many believing he could have been a first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Jones returned to Ohio State and was named the starting quarterback over a healthy Barrett, but couldn’t regain the magic he had during the end of last season and was benched in favor of Barrett late in the year.

Jones finished the 2015 season with 1,425 yards on 62.5 percent passing with eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He added 193 rushing yards and two touchdowns but isn’t much of a threat to run the ball. He’s a tank and tough to bring down, but he isn’t elusive or agile enough to be a consistent mover of the chains with his feet.

He does possess incredible arm strength and the ability to get the ball down the field. But he struggled with interceptions and poor decision-making as defenses got more film to study of Jones. He wasn’t a perfect fit in Ohio State’s power spread offense, but will some NFL team overlook his struggles this year and buy into the potential he flashed during the playoff last year?

Not if they’re smart.

Jones is so raw as a prospect and only has 270 career pass attempts in his career. That number would rank in a tie for 84th this season. He simply doesn’t have the experience to be an elite draft prospect and come off the board in the first round and I think it would be a reach to take him in the second or third round.

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There’s upside with Jones considering his 6-5, 250-pound frame and big arm that can chuck it 80 yards, but it’s the little things a quarterback must to in order to be great that I worry about when it comes to Jones. He could be a nice pick in the fourth round for a team with a stable coaching staff that can be patient with Jones and develop the finer points of being an NFL quarterback, but expecting him to start for your team before his second or third year in the NFL would be expecting too much, too soon.

After all, he couldn’t hold down a starting job in college, so why should he be expected to start right away for an NFL team?

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Despite all this, Jones made the right decision to return to school for the 2015 season. If his goal was to get to the NFL, he should have declared last year, but his goal is to get to the NFL and stay in the NFL and as a starter. His experience gained this year will help him in his path toward reaching that goal.