Few schools can probably testify to the value of a quality back-up quarterback the way Ohio State can. Starting quarterback Braxton Miller missed playing time early in the 2013 season, which meant the Buckeyes needed Kenny Guiton needed to keep the offense moving. He did so with flying colors. So with Miller out of spring practice after having a medical procedure on his throwing shoulder prior to spring practices, the playing time the potential back-up quarterbacks in Columbus are getting is not to be taken lightly. Early on, it seems as though Urban Meyer likes the way sophomore Cardale Jones is performing.
“Cardale — you talk about a changed guy,” Meyer said according to The Columbus Dispatch. “He was a guy who couldn’t get out of his own way a couple of years ago. Now you’re starting to see big progress in the classroom and (elsewhere). You remember the famous tweet? He’s a different guy. He had to be a different guy, or he wouldn’t be here.”
Meyer was referring to a tweet Jones shared in 2012, in which he infamously said “Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play football, we ain’t come to play school, classes are pointless.” A year and a half later, Meyer believes Jones has matured and is taking his role on the team and in the university more seriously.
Jones is competing for the back-up position behind Miller with redshirt freshmen J.T. Barrett. Barrett is coming off a knee rehab that occurred in his senior year of high school. Meyer says Barrett has gotten off to a slow start but is making progress.
From the sound of it, Ohio State looks as though they will be moving in to the fall with Jones backing up Miller.
