Jones ready for prime time

By Raul Colon

In 2008 Sam Bradford posted the best season by an Oklahoma Sooner quarterback riding it out all the way through a Heisman Trophy win and an appearance in that season’s BCS Championship Game. Hoping to follow on that success, Bradford returned to Norman in 2009 only to see his season and pro career take a deep dive in the opening game.

Bradford sustained a major shoulder injury that eventually required surgery and was lost for most of the season. With their experience leader out of action, the task of guiding the most explosive offense college football has seen since Nebraska ran wild in the 1980s fell on the shoulders of a freshman.

To say that Landry Jones was overwhelmed when he took his first snap as a college QB would be an understatement. He muffled it up against what was an agitating but undermanned BYU defensive front. The first pass he attempted, a waffling floater to the flank (which traveled no more than five yards) must have made head coach Bob Stoops a little nervous.

His first start came against lowly Idaho State, a game that saw him pass for three touchdowns versus one of the worse pass defenses in the nation. More food for thought to an already jittered Oklahoma coaching staff. But as the season progressed, Jones began to mature. The game got simple and slower. He began to assert his style (deep passing to the corners), not Bradford’s on the offense and by the time the postseason arrived, this was Jones’ team. His performance (261-449-58.1%- for 3,198 yards with a 26-14 TD-to-INT ratio) earned several Freshman of the Year honors, including the all too important ESPN.com Big XXII FOY Award.

His 418 passing yards (he finished 30-51 with 3 TDs and 1 interception), an Oklahoma bowl record, against a highly regarded Stanford team in the Sun Bowl had many pundits predicting big things for the Sooners in 2010. There’s even talk of a possible national title run. But all this talk could be mute if the 6-foot-4, 216 pound Jones fails to follow suit after a very productive rookie campaign.

Sooner Nation is optimistic, not for what he did down the stretch, but what he is doing this spring. He has worked tirelessly under the watchful eye of offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and QB coach Josh Heupel on improving his accuracy and mobility. He will never be a 65-plus completition signal caller, but if he can managed to stay above sixty, all should be well.

Jones has a much stronger arm than Bradford to go along with a more muscular frame. His balls come out with more zip and revolutions. His delivery is compact and precise, with not a lot of waste in it. To improve his strength, Jones had added a few pounds of muscle and is looking more faster in the team’s three-on-three drill sessions.

His ball management has also improved dramatically. Overall, he is by far a better quarterback than the one who toasted the Cardinals in Texas last December. If OU’s offensive line, depleted after two NFL drafts that saw it lose three quarters of their blue chips assets, can be functional, the product of Artesia, New Mexico could have the kind of season Bradford, now a number one overall pick in the draft, enjoyed in 2008. Sooner Nation is betting on it.