Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett Suspended; Cardale Jones Starting

In a bit of stunning Saturday news, Ohio State football fans who expected to wake up today and watch J.T. Barrett play football had a rude awakening.

Barrett has been suspended for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and will miss at least the Buckeyes’ game vs. Minnesota. This comes one week after his first start of the season where he looked absolutely phenomenal. A couple of our staff (who are awake at the time of the news) react to Barrett’s suspension, and the re-insertion of Cardale Jones into the starting lineup.

Joe Wedra: “I would hate to say I’m not surprised that this happened, but it seems to be par for the course when talking about quarterback play at Ohio State recently. The logic in my “football brain” says this season won’t end in a Championship win for the Buckeyes, but my heart remembers last season and the incredible College Football Playoff run. So, while this will serve as a distraction – no denying that – Urban Meyer is a great coach. There’s a ton of talent on both sides, enough to overshadow anything going on outside the locker room. I believe in Meyer’s system enough to keep picking them to win out, at-least up until the semi-final matchup.”

Erik Lambert: “Cardale Jones should be thanking his lucky stars. J.T. Barrett had all but made him an afterthought with his play for Ohio State and then he went and threw it away because he didn’t have the maturity or wherewithal to understand it was probably his last chance. Now he’s suspended, likely done as a starter. Very sad, but also a fascinating scenario in which Jones has a chance to revive his dying draft stock.”

Not only does this suspension put Cardale Jones back into the starting lineup, but it’ll give him one more chance to show NFL scouts what he’s capable of doing. You have to think Jones is going to be heading to the NFL after this year, though his stock has taken a major hit this year compared to the end of last year, where he stepped in and started drawing comparisons to Ben Roethlisberger for his play in Ohio State’s postseason run.

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The two staffers here took a different approach to the reaction on this — Joe on the college side, Erik on the NFL side — I tend to agree that this has more of an impact on Jones’ NFL future than anything else. Ohio State is talented enough to continue winning games without J.T. Barrett but can Cardale Jones show NFL scouts that the end of last season wasn’t a fluke?

At this point, you might see him picked on day two based on physical traits and intrigue alone, but can he push himself into the first round discussion? I know it sounds crazy, but it’s possible. Put together a nice couple of games of tape here, and make Urban Meyer again make a tough decision about the quarterback position.

Jones has a huge opportunity, though the circumstances aren’t ideal considering we all love watching J.T. Barrett play as well. Let’s see how this all unfolds.

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