Reevaluating the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 draft class
Landry Jones QB, Oklahoma – Round 4, 115th overall
At the time of the pick, I thought to myself “wow, what a steal of a player.” Landry Jones had himself quite a career in Oklahoma, winning 39 of 52 career games and slotting himself in at third all-time in college career passing yards and seventh all time in touchdowns.
Jones looked every bit the part of a late-round steal that would be a great back-up for Ben Roethlisberger and eventually be groomed into a starter. Things did not go according to that plan, to put it lightly.
Jones was looked at as a high-ceiling pick, despite having his best season as a sophomore at Oklahoma. He had a great spot to be in fora young quarterback in learning from a future hall of fame quarterback and not having the pressure of being thrust into important reps in games.
Jones quickly proved his ceiling was not as high as most anticipated. It became more and more obvious that he was nothing more than a backup NFL QB and expecting him to replace Ben was becoming unreasonable.
I will say that Jones got a lot of unwarranted hate from fans. When he had to play meaningful reps, he did what any backup is supposed to do and that is play well enough to give the team a chance to win. The team had chances to win most games Jones threw meaningful passes in.
Was Jones the second coming of Big Ben? No. Was it fair to him that fans expected him to play like he was an all-pro player? That answer is also no.
Jones was a backup and that’s all he will ever be. It wasn’t a great pick but it wasn’t a terrible pick either. It was a mid round flier on a quarterback with a high ceiling and didn’t pan out.