Cardale Jones

QB · Ohio State 2015 · #12

Last confirmed: Ohio State, 2015. No 2026 box-score games on record.

6′5″ · Cleveland, OH · Fork Union Military Academy

Cardale Jones: QB · Ohio State · #12.

Players he’s like

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Steven MontezColorado · 2017 · 82% season match
Michael CollinsTCU · 2018 · 72% season match
Patrick TowlesKentucky · 2014 · 66% season match
Eric DungeySyracuse · 2015 · 64% season match
Kevin HoganStanford · 2014 · 62% season match

Cardale Jones

QB · Ohio State · #12

Pushes it downfield on every look. This is his second year in the same quarterback room at Ohio State. A game that shows it: 291 passing yards and 19 rushing yards against Maryland — Week 6, 2015.

How he plays

Play style

Elite arm talent, pushing downfield. Completion rate is the variable.

News and fans

No outlet on our list has written about him by name this season.

Ohio State in the news

NCAA sues Ohio over eligibility orderOct 22
Ohio State QB out indefinitelyDucks Wire Oct 20
Indiana coach apologizes to Ohio State coachThe Big Lead Oct 18
NCAA sues Ohio governor over eligibility ruleOct 16

Where to follow him

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2015	Ohio State	110	176	62.5%	1,460	8.3	8	5	141.5	65
2014	Ohio State	56	92	60.9%	860	9.3	7	2	160.2	63
Career		166	268	61.9%	2,320	8.7	15	7	147.9	64

Season	Team
2015	Ohio State	64	193	3.0	2
2014	Ohio State	72	296	4.1	1
Career		136	489	3.6	3

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2015 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	Note
Wk 1	W 42-24@ Virginia Tech	10/19	187	2	1	9.8	89.3
Wk 2	W 38-0vs Hawai'i	12/18	111	0	0	6.2	32.5
Wk 3	W 20-13vs Northern Illinois	4/9	36	0	2	4.0	7.4
Wk 4	W 38-12vs Western Michigan	19/33	288	2	1	8.7	75.3
Wk 5	W 34-27@ Indiana	18/27	245	1	1	9.1	15.7
Wk 6	W 49-28vs Maryland	21/28	291	2	0	10.4	81.2	Season-high 291 yds
Wk 7	W 38-10vs Penn State	9/15	84	0	0	5.6	15.8
Wk 8	W 49-7@ Rutgers	3/3	24	0	0	8.0	74.2
Wk 10	W 28-14vs Minnesota	12/22	187	1	0	8.5	70.4
Wk 11	W 28-3@ Illinois	2/2	7	0	0	3.5	36.1
Total		110/176	1460	8	5	8.3	—

Signature game

Week 1 · 2015

W 42-24

at Virginia Tech

187 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 89.3 · 99 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD

With B. Miller — 3 rec · 79 yds · 1 TD · 61 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · E. Elliott — 122 rush yds (11 car) · 1 TD · 2 rec · 16 yds

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 10 · Minnesota · 3rd and 9 · Q4 · EPA +4.74Cardale Jones run for 38 yds for a TD, (Jack Willoughby KICK)
Week 4 · Western Michigan · 2nd and 3 · Q3 · EPA −4.33Cardale Jones pass intercepted, touchback. Darius Phillips return for no gain
Week 1 · Virginia Tech · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +4.18Jones to Miller: a 54-yard touchdown pass.
Week 10 · Minnesota · 3rd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +3.93Cardale Jones pass complete to Braxton Miller for 45 yds to the Minn 24 for a. Braxton Miller injured on play.
Week 5 · Indiana · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA −3.76Cardale Jones pass complete to Jalin Marshall for 34 yds Jalin Marshall fumbled, forced by Marcus Oliver, recovered by Ind Marcus Oliver
Week 6 · Maryland · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.69Cardale Jones pass complete to Jalin Marshall for 48 yds for a TD, (Jack Willoughby KICK)

4 more plays

Week 5 · Indiana · 3rd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +3.40Cardale Jones pass complete to Jalin Marshall for 26 yds to the Ind 47 for a
Week 7 · Penn State · 3rd and 11 · Q1 · EPA +3.35Cardale Jones pass complete to Braxton Miller for 17 yds to the PnSt 43 for a
Week 5 · Indiana · 3rd and 12 · Q3 · EPA −3.33Cardale Jones pass intercepted Tegray Scales return for 32 yds to the Ind 45
Week 1 · Virginia Tech · 2nd and 11 · Q4 · EPA +3.27Cardale Jones pass complete to Johnnie Dixon for 29 yds to the VTech 47 for a

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

110/176 (62.5%) · 8 TD · 5 INT

170 of 176 attempts matched to play-by-play

Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 170 passing plays (107 completions) against the box score's 176 attempts (110 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.

Adjusted ANY/A

7.1051 of 198 QBs

Sack rate

6.4%110 of 198 QBs

Sacked on 6.4% of dropbacks (110 of 198) — and still 51 of 198 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Short

0–9 yds

43%of completions

46 comp4.7 yds avg1 TD

Middle

10–19 yds

37%of completions

40 comp13.1 yds avg1 TD

Deep

20+ yds

20%of completions

21 comp30.6 yds avg4 TD

Overall 62.5% completion on 176 attempts · 21 deep completions averaging 30.6 yds.

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Urban Meyer, all run-heavy offenses — 26-2 over that span.

2014Ohio State14-1HC: Urban Meyer · Run-heavy

2015Ohio State12-1HC: Urban Meyer · Run-heavy

Our ratings

Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (82nd percentile). Strength: yards / att (82nd percentile). Concern: pass tds (30th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#32 / 176 · 82nd pct

12.4%

Success rate#35 / 176 · 80th pct

45.1%

EPA / dropback#74 / 176 · 58th pct

0.22

Sack rate#104 / 176 · 41st pct

6.6%

Interception rate#104 / 176 · 41st pct

2.9%

Box-score rates (7)

Yards / att#30 / 167 · 82nd pct

8.3

Interceptions#35 / 167 · 75th pct

Completion %#43 / 167 · 74th pct

62.5%

Rush yards#65 / 167 · 61st pct

193

Rush TDs#70 / 167 · 50th pct

Pass yards#104 / 167 · 38th pct

1460

Pass TDs#114 / 167 · 30th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / dropback

48th → 58th percentile

Success rate

66th → 80th percentile

Explosive rate

97th → 82nd percentile

Sack rate

57th → 41st percentile

Interception rate

64th → 41st percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2015 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

Low confidence: 166 dropbacks

65Zeitgeist Passer Rating33rd of 137 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 141.5 40th of 137 FBS QBs

Positive-play rate weight 24%

48.4%77th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -0.4% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

8.3588th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

7.2%34th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (16 of 182 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2015 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home6g	166	0.8	7.2	0.5
Road4g	116	0.8	7.6	0.5

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-77g	177	1.0	7.7	0.7
Weeks 8+3g	72.7	0.3	6.7	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2015 season

Head Coach

Urban Meyer

Pass share

37.0%

325 pass / 553 run

Plays / game

67.5

13 games

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Awards

Player standing · 2015

Heisman model top 25

Our Heisman model had this player inside its top 25 in 2015.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Cardale Jones

Players he’s like

How he plays

News and fans

Ohio State in the news

Where to follow him

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

Heisman model top 25

Four seasons at Ohio State, drafted

His moves

2011

2012

2016