INDIANAPOLIS — Erstwhile Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones fielded five questions before I got a chance to ask the one that seemed most obvious, the one that lingered throughout the Buckeyes’ 2015 season as he struggled to hold the starting quarterback job and ultimately lost it to J.T. Barrett. Does any part of him regret that he did not enter the draft a year ago and participate in the NFL Scouting Combine back then? MORE: NFL Mock Draft 2016 | STEELE: Somebody will panic, reach for QB “Of course not,” he said. He saw no need to elaborate, although eventually he did. It seemed ludicrous at the time, the notion that Jones would enter the draft having started just three games in his college football career. He had begun the 2014 season as a third-stringer, but Braxton Miller was injured before the season and Barrett was hurt in the final regular-season game against Michigan. So Jones started the Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin, the College Football Playoff semifinal against Alabama and the national title game against Oregon — all wins. Those were pretty high-level starts, so maybe it wasn’t crazy. Jones recognized his lack of experience, though, and returned for another season at Ohio State. He won the starting job but never was quite the force he’d been in those big games the prior season. …
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