Cardale Jones Returning To Ohio State Next Year

Ohio State QB Cardale Jones announced that he’ll be returning to school next year, rather than enter the 2015 NFL Draft.

“The NFL has always been my goal and dream,” Jones said, via SI.com. “It’s literally right there in front of me, but I also have a goal to graduate. I dedicated to myself and teammates and coaching staff to be the best student-athlete I can be and to graduate. I want to make sure I meet all my goals.”

Jones said it was an easy decision for him, as leaving for the NFL after just three games would have been a big jump.

“It’s great news,” HC Urban Meyer said. “It’s better than good news. It’s great news. I keep saying it’s a case study of the human spirit and maturity.”

Even if Jones has declared before Thursday’s deadline, he still would have had 72 hours to withdraw his petition for early entry into the NFL.

There was already a great deal of speculation regarding where he would have gone in this year’s draft after he led the Buckeyes to a National Championship.

• ESPN’s Todd McShay believes Jones is likely be a fourth- or fifth-round pick in next year’s draft.
• Heading into the National Championship game, McShay mentioned that he had Jones rated somewhere in the seventh-round or undrafted free-agent range.
• Sources who have spoken to McShay all three pegged Jones as a Day 3 prospect, but admitted they’ll have a lot of work to do on him in the next few months.
• Albert Breer has spoken to an NFL GM who said Jones could be the third quarterback taken in the 2015 draft. However, a college director tells Breer that Jones looks like “a tight end who throws.”

The question now is whether or not Jones will even be the start for Ohio State next year as they could have Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett back next year.

In 2014, Jones threw for 863 yards while completing 60.6 percent of his passes to go along with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He also added 296 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.