How Will the Ohio State Offense Change with Cardale Jones?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State can spin it any way it'd like—and it certainly has its reasons to do so—but J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones are different. And that's OK.

After all, Barrett was undeniably a different quarterback than Braxton Miller when the now-injured Heisman hopeful took over the Buckeyes' offense back in August, and Ohio State didn't miss a beat, even looking better offensively at times with Barrett at the helm.

That's not to say that Jones—especially in his first start—will be able to run the Buckeyes offense as efficiently as his predecessors, although the drop-off may not be as steep as you'd think. Nevertheless, Ohio State's offense will change to some degree in the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin this Saturday, just as it did three months ago.

How?

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Goin' Deep

Bring up Jones' ability, and one attribute comes to mind: his arm strength.

"He’s as athletic [as Barrett] and has a much stronger arm," Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said of the redshirt sophomore. "He's got a cannon for an arm."

How would Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman quantify Jones' arm strength?

"Eleventy billion."

At 6'5" and 250 pounds, Jones is significantly larger than either of the Buckeyes' previous two quarterbacks and possesses the ability to throw the ball much further. In fact, left tackle Taylor Decker claims to have witnessed Ohio State's new starting signal-caller throw the ball as long as 50 yards once—from his knees.

Jones won't be asked to do that on Saturday—after all, he'd be ruled down—but his "cannon" of an arm will add a new dynamic to the Ohio State offense. Whether the accuracy will be there is a different question, but don't be surprised if the Buckeyes forego shorter and intermediate routes in favor of deep throws to speedy wide receivers like Devin Smith and Corey Smith.

But while deep balls may be what Jones does best, Herman acknowledged that it's not realistic for a player making the first start of his college career to come out firing off 50-yard passes from the get-go. Rather, the Buckeyes will have to first make Jones comfortable before he can truly start firing.

"It's a little like getting in that hot tub," Herman said. "You gotta ease your way into that hot tub a little bit. Knowing that it's really hot and you're going to be just fine, but you don't go cannonballing into a hot tub."

Rumblin', Stumblin', Bumblin'

Like Miller and Barrett, Jones possesses plenty of mobility. He just has a different way of using it.

As opposed to Miller, who made a name for himself with designed quarterback runs, or Barrett, who excelled in Ohio State's zone-read game, Jones is more of a straight-ahead runner, not afraid to shy away from contact. When he does get out in the open, he's also deceivingly fast, his long legs requiring fewer steps to get to the end zone.

"He's a big dude. Big and pretty fast for that size," Herman said. "He probably doesn't have the same short-range change of direction that J.T. does. But he has long-range speed and the ability to kind of open it up in stride. He's pretty fast."

In fact, despite his limited playing time, Jones ranks fourth on the Buckeyes in rushing with 206 yards, although when he has come into games it's mostly been with the intent to run out the clock. Still, his 7.9-yards-per-carry average should be encouraging to Ohio State, as its quarterback run game won't be eliminated—it'll just look different.

Look for the Buckeyes to lean on Jones in short-yardage situations as well as in the zone-read game with running back Ezekiel Elliott. He may not be as shifty as Barrett or Miller, but his power does present a problem and could bring back memories of Tim Tebow lowering his shoulder during his days in Meyer's offense at Florida.

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The Wild Buck

Should Jones falter in his first start, the Buckeyes' plan appears not to be to burn the redshirt of freshman quarterback Stephen Collier. Rather, Ohio State has insisted that it would instead turn to freshman H-back Jalin Marshall, who has taken snaps for the Buckeyes in the Wildcat formation throughout the season.

"Plan C happens to be an all-state quarterback named Jalin Marshall," Meyer said.

Indeed, Marshall did enjoy a storied high school as a signal-caller during his days at Middletown (Ohio) High, accumulating 2,641 total yards and 26 touchdowns in his junior season. That was enough to earn him offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and UCLA to play quarterback in college, although the 4-star prospect opted take his talents to Columbus.

A position change at Ohio State was inevitable, and after redshirting in 2013, Marshall has found success as a do-it-all weapon in his freshman season. Third on the team in receiving and fifth in rushing, the 5'11", 205-pounder has tallied 485 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns while also taking on the Buckeyes' punt returning duties.

Meyer has been emphatic that Marshall will become a bigger part of the Ohio State game plan as the season wears on, even allowing him to attempt a pass in its Nov. 1 win over Illinois. Even should Jones prove efficient, expect for the Buckeyes to incorporate plenty of Wildcat into this weekend's contest, at the very least to see how Wisconsin will react to its different personnel groupings.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Ohio State lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com and recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.