If it were up to Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, Emory Jones would have shut down his recruitment the moment he committed last July and focused all his efforts on bringing other elite prospects with him to Columbus.
But the five-star dual-threat quarterback has gone against those wishes by visiting other schools, which seemingly brings uncertainty and a bit of discomfort along with it.
"It's real sensitive because that's that one position that you take one," Meyer said. "If it's a receiver, you take two or three anyways. That's a very sensitive subject."
Quite frankly, it puts the staff in a tricky spot.
Do they let Jones take visits and hope he stays committed, even though there's the possibility he flips later in the process? In that situation, the staff risks missing out on a quarterback entirely. Or, do they let Jones take visits and begin to have serious conversations with some of the other quarterbacks they've offered, possibly rubbing Jones the wrong way?
"You can't say, 'Here is a template and we do it this way,'" Meyer said. "It depends on the situation, the young man and all that."
Luckily for Ohio State, though, Jones isn't actively looking for a reason to change his commitment to Alabama, Florida State, Georgia or Tennessee — or any of the other schools he may potentially visit over the next several months, for that matter. He said as much in a recent interview with DawgNation's Jeff Sentell.
110% buckeye https://t.co/eAhLl8yPTX
— Emory Jones (@eXjones6) April 4, 2017
"Definitely not. They shouldn’t be worried," Jones said. "I’m 110 percent committed to the Buckeyes, and it’d take a lot to change that. It’s the people up there.
"I just think for myself," he continued, "it’d be better for me to take some more visits to make sure I pick the right place."
Each of the above-mentioned schools don't have a quarterback room overflowing with with four- and five-star talent, so of course they'll pitch the idea of Jones stepping into the starting lineup from the jump. But that's not likely to be the deciding factor.
"When I talk to coach [Ryan] Day, he’s like, 'The great quarterbacks, they stay in a system and develop.' That’s how I’m thinking of it," Jones said. "I need to stay in a system and develop, and I feel that coach Day is a great quarterback coach to do that for the next however [many years].
"I want to get on the field, but I want to get developed," he continued. "I don’t want to walk in [on] first day and have to play."
Jones is certainly saying all the right things, and his multiple-day visit for the Spring Game next week looms large. But Meyer, who uses every opportunity he can to list the negatives of an early signing period, doesn't seem too worried. At least not yet.
"I think we’ll be fine," he said.
