Prospect Breakdown: Cardale Jones vs. Virginia Tech

College Football’s most talked about quarterback battle finally came to an end on Monday as Cardale Jones took the helm as Ohio State’s starting QB over J.T. Barrett. Jones showed on the field that he has no intention of giving up the starting spot at quarterback. Let’s take a more in depth look at Cardale Jones’s first start of the season.

Jones wasted no time to show off that tremendous arm strength that he possess. Throughout this game Jones showed off his incredible arm talent from start to finish. On these two plays here, he stands tall in the pocket, and delivers accurate balls to the WR.

Jones sees the on coming blitz but that does not phase him in any way. He keeps his eyes on the target and delivers an absolute dart that is dropped. This was a touchdown if it was not dropped. Either way, Jones shows off what we have been raving about since the end of last season.

Cardale Jones was a physical presence in the pocket. He is nearly impossible for one defender to bring down, multiple times during this game he was able to shed tackles in the pocket and avoid a sack. This play here was especially impressive because a top EDGE rushing prospect in Dadi Nicolas was thrown off like a rag doll by Jones. This is something that he does very well.  Virginia Tech had a tough time trying to bring him down. When the pocket broke down he tucked the ball and ran for open yardage. A physical freak in the pocket.

Jones is known for pushing the envelope on throws a little too much. Two throws during this game showed that he is not afraid to make a difficult throw in a tough situation. On this play here, Jones sheds a tackler and rolls out to the left. He then decides to throw an awkward jump pass falling back while he is being hit by an incoming defender. The ball is complete and thrown 30 yards down field. His arm strength is the top I have seen from any QB I have watched that is draft eligible. Most quarterbacks will not even attempt to throw that let alone have the arm strength to get it off and complete it.

This throw here seemed so effortless. Jones threw this ball off his back foot fading away and was able to place it where only the WR could get it. The accuracy on this pass was as good as it gets, the ability to perfectly place the ball under duress like that is truly special.

A trait that I believe is completely overlooked when it comes to Jones is his running ability. Teams that think Jones is not a running threat like Barrett is are completely mistaken. He is a patient runner who attacks the hole when it opens up. He has a great feel when he runs the ball, he keeps the ball high and tight to make it nearly impossible to strip. He covers a lot of ground when he runs and even has some elusiveness in the open field.

These two plays show the kind of runner he is. On this play here, Jones fakes like he is running behind the right guard but plants his foot when he sees the open hole and attacks. The open field elusiveness is shown on this play when he splits the two defenders and gains extra yards. Ohio State’s running game does not take a hit with Cardale Jones in the game.

This play is a designed run in the red zone. Jones shows off his patient running style on this play as he hesitates so Elliot can kick out the the LB and open running lane for Jones. Again, he shows off that sneaky elusiveness as he makes the safety miss on a quick juke move. With a full head of steam and a open field he is nearly impossible to stop.

Cardale Jones showed off everything this game and more that I wanted to see. Yes, Ohio State is loaded on the offensive side of the ball but that takes away nothing from his talent. His arm strength is incredible, the accuracy is good but nowhere near where it could be, and the decision making is also sometimes questionable. His size at the QB position is special at 6’5″ 250 lbs and he uses every bit of that size in the pocket.

Ohio State is tougher to beat with Jones at the gun. This guy is a special player who is only scratching the surface of his true talent. I have not ranked my quarterbacks yet but if I had to right now Jones is my number one quarterback and a potential top-3 pick.

We will need to keep an eye on Jones this year to see how consistent he is and to see if he truly dominates every game. As of right now, he looks like the real deal who is only going to get better.

Next: Braxton Miller flashes NFL potential