From obscurity to national fame, Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the last month or so. Jones began the season as the Buckeyes' No. 3 quarterback. But after injuries to Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett, Jones got his shot and made the most of it.
Jones led OSU to a Big Ten championship, a Sugar Bowl victory and a national title in his first three career starts. Not bad, right? With his stock sitting sky high, Jones has until Thursday to decide if he will enter the 2015 NFL draft. If he declares, how does he project to the NFL?
"The best NFL comparison I can make for Jones is that he's an extremely raw version of Ben Roethlisberger," ESPN's NFL draft insider Todd McShay wrote. "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. Jones can drive the ball vertically with ease, and he shows the ability to put proper tempo on the ball and layer it between zones. He'd be best-suited for a vertical passing game in the NFL like the ones run in Baltimore or Arizona."
His Roethlisberger comparisons seem fitting as he routinely extended plays and delivered strikes with pressure in his face this season. The Cardinals' QB situation is such a mess right now that drafting and developing Jones over the long-term to be a Big Ben 2.0 seems to be a viable option.
It's true that Jones doesn't have quite the experience of top QB prospects Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. But he has impressed in his limited playing time. Jones completed 60.9 percent of his passes and threw for 860 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He also rushed 72 times for 296 yards (4.1 average) and one touchdown. What's even more impressive than his numbers is the immense poise he showed in three huge starts. Jones didn't come into the season taking first-team reps, but he never appeared rattled or out of his element while leading OSU on scoring drive after scoring drive.
So where would Jones land if he does enter the NFL draft?
"Heading into Monday night's title game, I would have said that Jones was somewhere in the seventh-round or undrafted free-agent range, but 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," McShay wrote. "I texted three NFL scouts Tuesday morning, and all three pegged Jones as a Day 3 prospect. However, they admitted they would have much more work to do studying him if he declares...
"Bottom line: This is a highly unusual situation. It'd be extremely rare for a quarterback to be drafted after just three games, even one with Jones' raw abilities. But rarely, if ever, do we see a QB have a three-game debut like the one Jones just put together."
