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Did OU's Landry Jones make a million dollar mistake?
Published: 4/23/2012 5:00 AM
Last Modified: 4/22/2012 10:41 PM

We've talked a little in the last week about what the value of a college scholarship should be to a student-athlete.

For one Oklahoma football player, the value may measure in the millions.

Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones turned down possible selection in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft to return to Norman for his senior season.

The decision was met with sighs of relief from Sooner coaches and just plain sighs from some OU fans.

Now, less than a week from Thursday's first selection, you wonder if that decision is met with just a shadow of doubt in the Jones household.

With Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III locked into the top two spots in the draft, quarterback-desperate teams are scrambling.

That's brought Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill into the mix as a top 10 pick, despite the fact he played the position for less than two years in college and played a role in numerous second-half collapses that doomed the Aggies to a 7-6 season.

Before Jones announced he was returning to OU, he climbed as high as No. 2 behind Luck among quarterback prospects in this year's draft. Even after struggling down the stretch without favorite target Ryan Broyles, Jones was still considered a top 20 pick.

It wouldn't be a stretch to think Jones' name might be thrown around as a top five selection by now. Will he still be a first-round lock in 2013? You would guess so (he's currently rated by some as the No.2 QB prospect behind USC's Matt Barkley), but things do change. Everyone knows the story of former USC quarterback Matt Leinart, and you wonder if he ever regrets his decision to stay in school for one more season.

After pounding OU on the way to a national championship, Leinart could have been the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Leinart stayed an extra season, dropped to 10th in the 2006 draft and ended up being little more than a journeyman back-up.

Did Leinart's extra college season derail a great NFL career or was he always destined to be a great college player who never translated at the next level?

We'll never know. But it's a million dollar question no one would blame Jones for asking.


Reader Comments 7 Total
Danomite Dandy Dan (10 months ago)
Never look back.
Dadzilla (10 months ago)
The other side of the coin is all of the athletes who have gone on to the NFL or NBA who cannot read and write.
Tired Taxpayer (10 months ago)
BS article....he wasnt even projected in the first three rounds. I cant believe that I was suckered into reading this.
Tired Taxpayer, say what you want about draft gurus, but most of the big ones had him as a sure first-round selection until he opted to return.
Matt in BA (10 months ago)
Maybe Landry was helping make sure Weeden was picked sooner in the draft.
Tulsabills (10 months ago)
Since the draft seems to be more about combine results & personal workouts, I think Landry could have easily been a mid-1st round pick this year.

Tannehill is such a reach, but he may go at #8 & Weeden would certainly be a first round pick if he wasn't older than half the current NFL QBs.

Even though I personally think Jones will be an average (at best) NFL QB, I do think he should have come out this year. A major injury or a poor senior season & his draft ranking could really drop.
Hope it works out for him. He is a great kid.

Tulsabills, I think you're right.

I said after OU's bowl game that Jones would have been wise to turn pro.

If you're a likely first-round pick, there is really no financial reason to return to college.

But if he enjoys Norman and being the big man on campus, more power to him.
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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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