Jones is a Bearcat

[Irishbearcat]

Anybody heard something on the possibility that former Notre Dame QB Jones may be coming to UC?? Originally, he was to go to Northern Illinois, but I heard from a reliable source that he is considering UC.

[Justin Register]

I also heard last night that he will be enrolling in classes in the spring, and due to barely playing this year, will try to have four years remaining, starting in 2008. The source was pretty reliable as well.

[BigDaddyCornHusker]

Josh's blog has some good info on this...

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/cincybearcats/

Summary: Jones was at a UC practice & has had conversations with BK.

[bcat51]

I also heard last night that he will be enrolling in classes in the spring, and due to barely playing this year, will try to have four years remaining, starting in 2008. The source was pretty reliable as well.

If he doesn't enroll until Spring ; he would not be eligible to play until 2009. To get three years of playing competition in under NCAA rules he needs to be eligible to play next year (probably by quickly enrolling at a school on the quarter
system). Because of the NCAA's normal five year window of eligibility I don't see any way he ever would get four more years.

[thebearcat]

He needs to apply before 12th day of classes in first quarter in order to be eligble next year. Thats why we are possibility as are Ohio St and Northwestern.

[Irishbearcat]

This would be great news. I'd like to see him in a system where he gets a chance to play. Him being behind Clausen (and Crist next year), it just wasn't gonna happen.

[Bearcat Cafe]

Hmmm. Kelly says in the Enquirer today UC has zero open scholarships for Jones this year. So he is going to pay his own way for a year?

[shaunsimpson]

I put a few things on Josh's blog about this as well.

I don't know when UC started school, but he would be able to count this as his year off as long as he starts classes by the 12th day of class. this would limit Jones to a school on quarters.

Here is the link for those interested:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/sports/574238,2_2_AU26_NIU_S1.article

Schools on quarters:
Schools on quarter system:.
Some of the U of California's
University of Cincinnati
Louisiana Tech University
Northwestern University
Ohio State University
Ohio University
Oregon State University
University of Oregon
Stanford University
University of Washington

Also, my guess is that he will pay his own way somehow, but he doesn't have to since UC was not on the restricted list by ND. I am not 100% on this one though.

[richard k.]

He might have to pay something since Kelly says he doesn't have a scholarship. If he wants a BCS conference and to stay in the midwest, his only other alternatives are OSU and Northwestern. I doubt OSU, but could Northwestern by a really viable alternative? Is he from that area? And, Northwestern's academics wouldn't seem to be a problem (Kelly, or another coach is quoted as saying "he get's it done in the classroom").

[iamspen]

He's already enrolled at UC.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/SPT0101/709270358/1062/SPT

[Justin Register]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/SPT0101/709270358

[shaunsimpson]

So....does this mean Britt or Kay rethink their commitment? I hope not.

[richard k.]

OK - seems like a great addition - and I have to doubt that Daniels is here on a lark - assuming he is not charged/convicted of anything how much of a leap is it to have him on scholarship next year as well?

[capcbk]

Zach Frazer who????

Funny how things can change so much in a matter of weeks!

[jplog]

So....does this mean Britt or Kay rethink their commitment? I hope not.

I agree. Not being a ND fan I couldn't tell you anything about this guy, but he couldn't start on that awful team so I hope nobody's penciling him in as the starter next year. I really like the talent at QB right now with Mauk (maybe one more year?) and Pike.

[bcat51]

So....does this mean Britt or Kay rethink their commitment? I hope not.
It's possible but this might on the other hand might help us bring in some more high profile receiver recruits with the profile of our program rising.

[CincyBeerCo]

Man....Talk about QB competition (aka log jam) next Spring/Summer:

Next yrs QB situation (if commitments are honored):

Mauk, SR (if he is granted a medical hardship waiver by NCAA...doubtful but???)
Grutza, SR
Pike, JR
Carey, JR (I think)
Anderson, SO
Collaros, SO
Jones, SO
Britt, FR
Kay, FR

Yup....9 of 'em!

I would assume some RS and transfers at least...wow.

[Irishbearcat]

Jones was a highly rated qb coming out of Illinois. Top 10 in fact. He is the kind of qb that will excel in the Kelly system. He's not a prototypical option qb, but he is mobile, and can take off if need be.

[tophat]

It's very unlikely Mauk will get a redshirt year to comeback, but that still leaves alot of qbs. At least one will probably leave, and a few will have to move to another position. Britt will come, not sure about Kay.

[tophat]

Jones was a highly rated qb coming out of Illinois. Top 10 in fact. He is the kind of qb that will excel in the Kelly system. He's not a prototypical option qb, but he is mobile, and can take off if need be.

Irish, I saw his speed listed at 4.7 on a scouting report -- is he faster than that? Just how good a thrower is he? He'll have to be very accurate to play here. The benefit is Kelly will work with him to get him there. Kelly obviously sees him as very much in the mix as a starter.

[cspeed]

Lance , just had a guy on from ND and said Jones is a heck of a talent and would EXCEL in a spread offence. He just needs time and a little maturing. Grutza next year and Jones as a Jr the following 2. Nice problem to have at QB, compition!

[shaunsimpson]

but he couldn't start on that awful team

Remember that he was the starter in their first game against Georgia Tech. After the loss in the first game Wiess had a lot of pressure to play the best QB to ever play the game *joke* in Claussen.

ND's problems are much larger than QB. up until last game they had negative rushing yards. They now have 103 yds on 135 carries at .8 yds a clip (yes sacks count against rushing) and are last in D1. ND also has 445 yds at 111.3 yds a game or 3rd last in the country. This leads to 6.8 points a game which is 2nd worst (also, remember the return TD they had against Penn St counts in this).

I don't think you can judge Jones on ND's quality this year. Actually it was 9-0 when he was pulled in the 1st game so due to previous games I would say he did well.

[Lobot]

ESPN link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3039526

[Irishbearcat]

Jones is supposed to have 4.4 speed, but may be closer to 4.5. He is a drop-back qb who can run on a broken play.
I don't think anybody knows how good he is, based on playing about a half in one game. But he was around the # 33 overall recruit in his class.

As far as Jimmy Claussen goes, he is going to be very good. Given that the O line is as porous as a stone foundation in hyde park, I would not say his play thus far is indicative of his talents. Also, he has been healing from surgery, and had to share reps when he was 'healthy'. I think towards the end of this year, and certainly next year, we'll see him grow into a pretty solid star. I don't think we'll see his best until his junior year.

[Big B]

From here on out all the freshman QB's that come in will be redshirt. I believe Anderson and Collaros redshirted this year, so they won't be sophmores next year. So next year I think it will look like this:

Grutza - starter
Pike - 1st qb off the bench
Jones - mopup role
Carey, - at 6' 4" only other positon he could move to is TE
Anderson, redshirt freshman just waiting his turn
Collaros, same here
Britt, Redshirt
Kay, Redshirt

None of these quys are 5 star QB's so I'm sure none were promised a lot of playing time, if Mauk by some miracle gets another year then who knows.

[Irishbearcat]

I think Cincinnati will see its own version of the ND QB transfer situation. If 1 or 2 at the bottom doesn't want to go in two years, they probably aren't very good. Unless of course, they switch positions.

[shaunsimpson]

I think Jones starts for this team next year unless Mauk can get the 6th year. I see it as:

Jones - starter (or 1st backup if Mauk is still around)
Pike - 1st backup (the only reason Grutza is playing above him now is that he has started and not because he is better)
Grutza - 2nd backup
Carey, - TE or transfer
Anderson - position change
Collaros - position change or get mopup over Grutza due to need for the future
Britt - future is in secondary and will most likley redshirt
Kay - redshirt

[jplog]

I think Jones starts for this team next year unless Mauk can get the 6th year. I see it as:

Jones - starter (or 1st backup if Mauk is still around)
Pike - 1st backup (the only reason Grutza is playing above him now is that he has started and not because he is better)
Grutza - 2nd backup
Carey, - TE or transfer
Anderson - position change
Collaros - position change or get mopup over Grutza due to need for the future
Britt - future is in secondary and will most likley redshirt
Kay - redshirt

I also don't see Grutza as the starter next year (at least I hope we're better than that). Granted, he's excelled the past two games but they've been against low lifes of the MAC. If it's not Mauk then I'm all for Pike if he's progressed as we've hoped. The only way I see Jones starting next year is if Mauk doesn't get his medical waiver and Pike hasn't developed.

[Cincycats93]

I think the thing that everyone is forgetting is that we are actually debating about the vast amount of talented QB's that are committing to the Cats. I have been a huge fan since the late 80's. I can't remember having this many talented and talked about recruits on the whole team in any one year. I, for one, hope that this becomes a problem at every single position on the roster. I think we will be extremely fortunate to let most of our recruits come in and redshirt a year. This allows them a year to get stronger and acclimate to the speed of the college game. I want Kelly and the coaches to have incredible talent and depth at every single position.

What a great time it is to be a Bearcat fan!

[jkwuc89]

With regards to football, you cannot have too many talented athletes. Plus, as far as I know, this is the first high school All-American to choose UC. This is quite a good recruiting win for the Bearcats.