Can Cardale Jones Be an NFL Franchise Quarterback?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — He hasn't played a snap in an actual game in more than five months, but if you thought that was going to stop Cardale Jones from being one of the central focuses of the upcoming NFL draft, you must not have paid much attention to the former Ohio State quarterback's college career.

After flipping the script on his narrative, becoming a national championship-winning quarterback, turning down one opportunity to enter the NFL draft and becoming one of the most polarizing prospects in the next, the conversation about Jones has come full circle and back to the first subject that landed him in the public spotlight four years ago: school.

While speaking to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal about Jones' pro prospects, Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer seemed to suggest Jones' academic responsibilities may have held him back during his time in Columbus.

"A really good skill set, intellectual, very smart, wasn't necessarily very good at school. I wonder if that kind of set him back a little bit," Meyer said. "That's one difference between pro and college—now he doesn't have to worry about classes and going to school and all that stuff. He can focus completely on football."

So the quarterback who first burst into the public's consciousness by tweeting he wasn't at Ohio State to "play school" and that "classes are pointless" during his freshman season in 2012 may not have paid as much attention to his academics as perhaps he should have?

You don't say.

Steve Helber/Associated Press

But while Meyer's quote about Jones' interest in class—or lack thereof—is what drew the most attention and generated the most headlines in the past few days, what's been lost in the three-time national champion head coach's analysis of his former quarterback is his larger point. Despite his shortcomings and his disappointing 2015 season, Jones can still be a successful NFL signal-caller.

It might just come by way of an untraditional route.

As Meyer told Ridenour, "I think it's the situation he's going to get put in. I think there's going to have to be patience, an excellent quarterback coach that's going to have to earn his trust. ... It's going to be dictated by the team that takes him, the amount of patience and the relationship he develops with the quarterback coach."

A year ago, when Jones had first contemplated entering the NFL draft following his improbable run through the college football postseason as Ohio State's starting quarterback, such patience may not have been possible. Having started just three games in his college career while simultaneously showcasing all the necessary physical tools on the sport's biggest stage, Jones' perceived draft stock was somewhat of a mystery. But in the draft process, mystery can be a good thing.

"As an athlete, it's all there," Matt Miller, Bleacher Report's lead draft analyst, said after Jones quarterbacked the Buckeyes to the national title victory over Oregon in January 2015. "He's huge. His arm is amazing. It would be the best arm in this year's draft. He grades great throwing it to every level of the field. ... I could see someone falling in love with him and going crazy."

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

While Jones ultimately returned to Ohio State for another season, watching the 2015 draft, it was tough to imagine the 6'5", 253-pounder would have slid past the second round. After Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were selected with the first two picks, it wasn't until the New Orleans Saints picked Colorado State's Garrett Grayson in the third round with the draft's No. 75 overall pick that another signal-caller came off the board.

All together, only seven quarterbacks were taken in the 2015 NFL draft.

"He would have easily been the third QB drafted," Miller said in October.

What a difference a year makes.

While the top of this year's draft seems weaker at the position—Cal's Jared Goff and North Dakota State's Carson Wentz appear to be the only consensus first-round quarterbacks—the middle to back end appears much more muddied. Paxton Lynch, Connor Cook, Christian Hackenberg, Kevin Hogan, Dak Prescott and Nate Sudfeld each fit somewhere in that equation, although exactly where is yet to be determined.

The same could be said for Jones, except his perceived draft stock is significantly weaker than it would have been just 12 months ago. Despite beginning the year as Ohio State's starting quarterback, the Cleveland native ultimately lost a season-long quarterback battle to J.T. Barrett and didn't appear in the Buckeyes' final three games.

All of the physical tools draft analysts were drooling over a year ago are still there.

But with more actual game film available, there's become less to like about Jones' game.

"He looks really disjointed. I think that's the best word for it. I don't think he's a good fit in that offense," Miller said upon Jones' benching last season. "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."

However, despite little having changed between now and then, there remains a path for Jones to not only be drafted, but potentially one day be the face of a franchise. Like Meyer said, it's going to take the right situation—perhaps the right veteran quarterback to sit behind—and the patience to know that even with his apparent physical tools, Jones is far from a finished product.

"The Ohio State offense didn't ask him to go underneath and read a lot of concepts," Miller said last month. "But there's a good foundation to build on."

Not that you'd expect him to say any different, but Jones too believes he can one day be a franchise quarterback. Alluding to the scrutiny he faced in Columbus over the past 15 months, he pointed out he's no stranger to the spotlight.

"You look at the guys who are franchise quarterbacks for their teams, they have it together on and off the field," Jones said after an impressive pro-day performance in March. "I played at Ohio State. I'm not going to say it's the same thing, but it's almost the same magnitude."

Former Buckeyes safety and Jones' college roommate Tyvis Powell added, "He's a winner. At the end of the day, Cardale's the only quarterback that's 11-0 [as a starter] and that hasn't lost a game. You can't beat that with a bat."

Of course, there's more to being a potential franchise quarterback than career records, saying all the right things and even physical traits. At some point, a team has to be confident enough in your total package to put its future in your hands.

As Meyer pointed out, for Jones, that could still happen. It's just going to need to come at the right place and at the right time.

Could Cardale Jones still become a franchise quarterback in the NFL? Sure.

But the reality remains that it's a long shot.

It also wouldn't be the first time he's overcome the odds.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.