What ever happened to Paul Jones?
Amid all the talk about the competition between Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin this season, many might have forgotten about another quarterback who might have a role in Penn State's future.
What ever happened to Paul Jones?
Amid all the talk about the competition between Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin this season, many might have forgotten about another quarterback who could have a role in Penn State’s future.
That signal caller – a highly touted recruit in 2010 – was asked about at coach Joe Paterno’s weekly press conference on Tuesday for the first time in quite a while.
How has Paul Jones, who enrolled at Penn State a semester before Bolden to get a jump-start on practice, handled his off time this fall due to being academically ineligible, a reporter asked.
“I think Paul's done very well,” Paterno said. “Now, I haven't got any grades yet. With Paul, he had not come here with the idea of – he had very bad study habits. He’s not a dumb kid.”
Jones, a 6-foot-3, 242-pound quarterback from McKees Rocks came to Penn State with plenty of hype. Scout.com ranked Jones the No. 2 prep quarterback in the nation, and rivals.com ranked him No. 8.
After enrolling in January of 2010, he was the star of that year’s Blue-White game, throwing the game’s only two touchdowns. But he has yet to play a meaningful down of football for the Nittany Lions.
Jones redshirted last season and has sat out this season with academic problems.
His future at Penn State remains uncertain. Though McGloin has just a year of eligibility left, Bolden has two and Skyler Morninwheg of St. Joseph’s Prep is coming in the fall as part of next year’s freshman class.
Where does that leave Jones?
Paterno, for one, sounded optimistic on Jones, who has three years of eligibility remaining.
“I think once he gets in the groove academically,” Paterno said, “I think he'll have a good future.”
--Jake Kaplan
When Bolden transfers after the season, it will be McGloin vs. Jones. Hopefully Jones wins the competition and is the team's starter for the next 3 years. Penn State desperately needs some reliability, consistency, and standout play at that position. Redshirt Mornhinweg's kid next year. That way, if he's the real deal, he can be the starter for 2 years when Jones is done. Of course, all of these predictions are occurring in a perfect world, and well...— Penfold18
Comment removed.
This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
