Ohio State Spring Game Is Cardale Jones' Best Chance to Earn the Starting QB Job

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Cardale Jones takes the field at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, he'll do so to an ovation that only a quarterback who led Ohio State to three consecutive postseason wins and the first College Football Playoff championship could earn.

But while Saturday's spring game will be a celebration of sorts for the defending national champion Buckeyes, it will be all business for Jones.

Because although his starting spot in the exhibition is guaranteed, nothing after it is.

Just three days after leading Ohio State to a victory over Oregon in the national title game, the Cleveland native surprised the college football community when he announced he'd be returning to Columbus for his junior season. Despite starting just three games in his college career, the 6'5", 250-pounder played well enough and possessed all of the measurables that could have made him a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

True to his unpredictable nature, Jones had other plans.

“The NFL after three games was really out of the question for me," he said in a nationally televised announcement in Cleveland. "I want to go back to school and compete for the spot."

And while Jones was adamant Urban Meyer hadn't promised him that he'd reclaim the Buckeyes' starting quarterback job, it wasn't hard to see that he had a leg up on the competition. 

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

With Braxton Miller still recovering from a torn labrum that ended his 2014 season before it started and J.T. Barrett having fractured his ankle just two months prior, Jones was expected to be the undisputed No. 1 quarterback for all of Ohio State's spring practice. There, he'd be afforded the opportunity to build on his momentum from the Buckeyes' playoff run and potentially create an insurmountable lead over Miller and Barrett heading into fall camp.

"I can get a lot better," Jones said as he announced his return. "As each week and each game went on, I think I got a lot better and I progressed. With a full offseason taking reps as a [No.] 1 [quarterback], I think it'll make me be the best quarterback I can possibly be."

With one day of spring practice—Saturday's spring game—left, Meyer has deemed that Jones has "had a good spring." But he's far from established himself as Ohio State's starting quarterback for the fall, thanks to Barrett's ahead-of-schedule recovery.

Watching the Buckeyes practice this spring, you could hardly tell the reigning National Freshman and Big Ten Quarterback of the Year wasn't at full strength, as he traded first-team reps with Jones in seven-on-seven drills. Meyer has admitted that Barrett is much further along than they expected him to be, even sneaking him into some goal-line situations as spring practice winded down.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

"Nothing surprises me with J.T.," Ohio State offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. "He's a hard worker, does everything you could possibly do mentally and physically. He's come along pretty good and it's fun to have him out there."

Meyer has been adamant that he's been careful in protecting Barrett in practice, and as a result he won't participate in Saturday's spring game. And that's what makes this exhibition so important for Jones, as it will be his last opportunity to take center stage by himself.

A strong showing won't necessarily lock up the starting job for the Big Ten title game MVP, but it could help give Jones the edge he was looking to leave spring practice with when he announced his return to Ohio State in January. Barrett, like Jones, has been able to build chemistry with the Buckeyes receiving corps, which will be replacing Devin Smith, Evan Spencer and Jeff Heuerman in 2015, leaving little room for separation in the OSU quarterback derby.

Paul Vernon/Associated Press

As far as a timetable for the race, Meyer revealed on Thursday that he'd like to make a decision on who his starting quarterback will be for the upcoming season by the middle of the Buckeyes' fall camp. "Every one of them deserves that opportunity and right now two of them aren't getting it. I think by the middle of training camp you have to have a handle on this thing," Meyer said.

That would seem to imply that Jones already has an edge, but if Barrett were out of the picture, there wouldn't be any need for Meyer to extend the quarterback battle into fall camp. For all that Miller has done for the Buckeyes program in his time in Columbus, it would seem that just a few weeks in camp would hardly be enough time for him to reclaim his starting spot after nearly a year away from all football activity.

Barrett's strong spring, however, has put him in a position to truly make the most of Meyer's decision to keep the quarterback competition going into the summer. That's why it's important for Jones to solidify every edge that he can between now and then, starting with a strong showing in Saturday's spring game.

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.