Cardale Jones has a big frame, a big arm, a big brain, a big mouth and a big, fat College Football Playoff National Championship ring. That combination of traits alone should have meant he wasn't there for the Buffalo Bills to draft with the 139th overall pick.
But his meteoric rise to college football's peak was followed by a drop off the top of the depth chart, tumbling draft stock and a long wait for his name to be called in the 2016 NFL draft. But once he arrives in Buffalo and dons the Bills' royal blue, his draft status won't mean a thing. He'll be a professional quarterback, with pro-caliber tools in an offense that will let him show off.
But does Jones really have what it takes to be a starter in the NFL? Can he do what he failed to do during his encore performance at Ohio State, which is get better?
It's never been a question of talent. Listed by Rivals.com at 6'4", 217 pounds, the big-armed 3-star recruit played for Glenville High School in Cleveland, a traditional Ohio State pipeline. He committed to the Buckeyes on national signing day as an academic grayshirt in 2011, spending his first post-secondary semester at a prep school getting his grades right.
In the same recruiting cycle, the Buckeyes received a commitment from Rivals' No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and the top prospect in the state of Ohio: Braxton Miller.
By the time Jones arrived in Columbus, Miller had already established himself as the best quarterback on campus. Head coach Urban Meyer arrived with great fanfare in 2012, and he and Miller led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season.
Jones took a redshirt year.
He finally got on the field in the fall of 2013, at the back end of a horrific blowout of Florida A&M. He gave us a little taste of the future:
Jones's final stat line for 2013: 1-of-2 passing for three yards, 17 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown. Miller led the Buckeyes to the Orange Bowl and was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year for a second straight time.
The following August, Miller suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
Backup J.T. Barrett led Ohio State to an 11-1 regular season—but in the fourth quarter of the campaign-defining thrashing of hated rival Michigan, Barrett was carted off with an injury. Suddenly, Jones, the redshirt sophomore, was the Buckeyes' starter.
Jones didn't just start the ensuing Big Ten title game, he finished off Wisconsin in spectacular fashion:
He went 12-of-17 for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the 59-0 win over the Badgers. Tellingly, all three of the touchdown strikes were bombs to speedy receiver Devin Smith: 39, 44 and 42 yards.
Jones' incredible debut earned him the hardest second start in college football history: a Sugar Bowl matchup against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Once again, Jones' size, running ability and massive arm carried the day. While Miller and Barrett, two expected Heisman Trophy candidates, watched from the sidelines, Jones went 18-of-35 for 243 yards and a touchdown.
Compared to Alabama, the No. 2 Oregon Ducks were easy pickings. Jones completed 16 of 23 passes for 242 yards and a score, while tailback Ezekiel Elliott rolled for 246 yards and four more touchdowns. The Ohio State Buckeyes were national champions, and Jones was the hottest name in football.
In just three starts, Jones had accomplished feats most quarterbacks can only dream of. He did great things against the toughest competition in the country, for the highest stakes imaginable. In a way, he had nothing left to prove.
In another way, he hadn't proven anything at all.
With just three starts to go on, scouts struggled to evaluate Jones. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. thought Jones would have been a second-round pick if he came out, as ElevenWarriors.com reported Kiper saying on a media conference call in February.
"He would have easily been the third QB drafted," Bleacher Report NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller told Bleacher Report's Ben Axelrod. In the end, Jones chose to forgo the spotlight to keep working on his game.
"I'm not ready for that level yet," Jones said at a press conference following the national championship game, per ESPN.com's Heather Dinich. "I'm going to be starting three games in three years, and you know, guys play their whole career to have that buildup and have that motivation to play in the NFL."
That decision gave the Buckeyes some buildup at quarterback, too. Miller was secretly converted to wide receiver, and the team gave Jones the starting job.
But Jones couldn't quite pick up where he left off. Quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Tom Herman left the team, and offensive line coach Ed Warinner was promoted to replace him. While Jones gained an athletic new target in Miller, he missed the pure deep speed of Smith, who'd been drafted by the New York Jets.
Things started well, with the Buckeyes avenging their only loss of the 2014 season in the 2015 opener, beating Virginia Tech 42-24. But Jones completed only half of his 18 attempts and threw a pick to go with two touchdowns. Two games later, Jones had a miserable outing against lowly Northern Illinois, tossing two picks on just nine attempts. He was benched for Barrett, who finished off the win.
Things continued in that vein for weeks: Ohio State was winning, but Jones' game tape and stat lines were all over the map. He struggled with consistency, accuracy and decision-making. After Jones started 9-of-15 for just 84 yards against Penn State, Meyer benched him for Barrett again, this time for good.
"He looks really disjointed," Miller told Axelrod following the benching. "I don't think he's a good fit in that offense," Miller said. "Last year it was so simple—throw it deep to Devin Smith—and he was allowed to 'just play.' Now teams are game-planning for him, and he's asked to do more in the offense."
"His decision-making hasn't been fast enough or accurate enough," Miller said. "I had moved him out of my Top 100 prior to the benching, so I think that's a starting point...he won't get back to [the first round] on my board."
Jones continued to see time on the field, but he was done as a starter for Ohio State. Can he really become a starter for the Buffalo Bills?
Miller thinks so. He called Jones the most underrated quarterback in the draft:
In 2014, the total lack of scoutable tape stymied opposing coaches as well as NFL and media scouts. In 2015, being asked to do everything the quarterback for a national title contender must do proved a steep challenge for a young player who'd only been asked to run and throw it deep—especially when running and throwing deep are the two things he does best.
Jones was right: He's wasn't ready for the NFL then, and he isn't ready to perform at a high level now. But he has a rare combination of tools and mental makeup that make his potential obvious.
He's got a massive frame, the kind that can absorb big hits. At 6'5", 253 pounds, he'll be bigger than many of the defenders trying to tackle him! He's also a huge load to bring down when he gets moving. He didn't do all the drills at the combine, per NFL.com, but when the second-heaviest quarterback ever posts an incredible 36-inch vertical leap, you're dealing with a special combination of size and athleticism.
According to Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News, the Bills know Jones isn't anywhere near ready to take the field as a pro. General manager Doug Whaley, per Dunne, still believes in EJ Manuel.
"We think he's as good a No. 2 as most out there," Whaley said of Manuel. "We think the guy has talent and we think, we know we're comfortable with him as our No. 2." But Jones' game closely resembles that of starter Tyrod Taylor, who beat out Manuel with his combination of raw, unproven athleticism and big, playmaking arm.
But Whaley likes Jones, too:
Just as the Buckeyes did with Jones, the Bills leaned on a power running game and strong offensive line to keep pressure off Taylor and keep his passing attempts to a minimum. Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was successful in coaxing strong performances out of Taylor and Colin Kaepernick, will have plenty of time to work with Jones and get him the instruction and coaching he needs.
The Bills are setting their sights on taking over the AFC East this season, and Jones is not ready to be one play away from having to repeat his 2014 relief performance in the NFL.
But at this instant, Jones can already do things most NFL quarterbacks can't, and he has the potential to be the Bills' quarterback of the future.
...Just not quite yet.