Apparently JT Barrett is tired of hearing about how Cardale Jones has a stronger arm than him.
The newly named Ohio State starting quarterback recently addressed the comparisons between himself and his teammate at a post practice presser.
Here are the quotes from ESPN:
“[The offense] really didn’t change with Cardale in the game,” Barrett, a redshirt sophomore, said on Wednesday evening. “Like last year when I was playing, how many deep balls did I throw to Devin [Smith]? All the deep balls that we had were to Devin, and I threw them, but I guess since I’m not 6-5 and 250 [pounds] that I didn’t have a strong arm or something. I didn’t know what that was about.
“We didn’t have new plays in so Cardale could throw the ball farther down the field. It was our base plays, and we just worked within that. Nothing has changed, so I even forgot about your question because I’ve wanted to say that for a long time to be honest with you, because I didn’t know what that was about.”
“I threw deep balls the whole year, and it was like, ‘Oh, Cardale, he’s got a strong arm, they’re going to be throwing deeper and pass it downfield,'” Barrett said. “What? What are you talking about? I can do the same things. The thing is, now when a play breaks down and somebody is 80 yards down the field, am I going to throw it? Absolutely not. Cardale is going to throw that. I’m not going to throw that. But I feel that’s different.
“I was just like, ‘That’s crazy to me.’ If you go back and watch film, I threw a lot of deep balls. Were some underthrown? Absolutely. That was earlier in the year, and I got better as the year went on. But I was like, ‘Do I have a weeny arm?’ In the offseason that was in my head the whole time I was lifting weights, because I felt like I couldn’t throw the ball deep because you all were talking bad about me.”
It is clear that JT is fed up with folks talking about Cardale’s arm strength and I can’t say I blame him. Everyone gets caught up in a quarterback’s arm strength and ability to throw the deep ball, but obviously that isn’t the most important factor when it comes to quarterbacking.
I always thought that JT should be starting quarterback when he got healthy, and he has proved that he is the better option for Ohio State despite not having the biggest arm in the quarterback meeting room. Barrett gives the Buckeyes the best chance to defend their national title this year, so the comparisons between him and Cardale Jones need to stop.