Scarlet Sunrise: Nick Bosa and Dre'Mont Jones both made their own best decisions

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise! Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more. 

---

Dre’Mont Jones will play in Rose Bowl

Dre’Mont Jones announced Wednesday that he will enter the 2019 NFL Draft, but not before he plays in the Rose Bowl against Washington on Jan. 1. Whether or not he would play in the Rose Bowl after Ohio State wasn’t chosen for the playoff became a subject of debate after Jones recently responded to a question on that topic by saying “We’ll see.”

His decision to play is a great outcome for Ohio State and its fans. Everyone should be excited to watch him play one more time. Most importantly, though, it’s the right decision for Jones. He had to weigh the pros and cons of what he’d be risking from the chance of injury with no national championship hopes left and compare it against what he’d be giving up by missing out on one last game as a Buckeye and subjecting himself to criticism and scrutiny. Ohio State won out.

That shouldn’t take anything away from Nick Bosa, however. The numbers are different for every player, and Bosa is virtually guaranteed tens of millions of dollars next spring. Furthermore, it seems to be increasingly lost in the shuffle that it was more likely than not that he wouldn’t have been able to play again at any point this season even if he’d tried.

At any rate, it’s important to keep perspective. Players are electing to skip bowl games more and more, but it’s not the epidemic it’s being portrayed to be. And when it does happen, it’s hard to fault the players who have taken that path. Last year, Denzel Ward skipped the Cotton Bowl… and Ohio State won comfortably anyways and Ward was taken No. 4 overall.

Also, speaking of Bosa and his decision…

ESPN puts Nick Bosa No. 1 in mock draft

ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay’s latest NFL mock draft has another win for Ohio State over Michigan. McShay projected defensive end Nick Bosa to go No. 1 overall with Michigan defensive end Rashan Gary in the No. 2 spot.

There were two other Buckeyes also listed in the first round — quarterback Dwayne Haskins to the New York Giants at No. 10 and defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones to the New England Patriots at No. 29.

Cavon Butler in tough spot

Since we covered tough decisions regarding the college-to-pro transition above, let’s keep it rolling with the high school-to-college decision. Toledo (Ohio) Whitmer defensive tackle Cavon Butler is the latest example of what’s happening with the early signing period — players are getting squeezed by schools to sign early by essentially threatening their spots.

Butler was planning to wait until February to sign because an Ohio State offer might hinge on academics getting cleared up, but now he’s planning to sign in December.

“Spots will be gone,” Butler told Lettermen Row. “Coaches, my [high] school coaches, have told me that and I sat down with my family.”

Sadly, coaches using leverage to pressure 18-year-olds probably means the new system is working exactly as intended.

Counting down

• Early signing period: 6 days
• Rose Bowl: 19 days

Sign up for the Scarlet Sunrise newsletter

If you enjoy the Scarlet Sunrise posts, please consider having our newsletter delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Click here to sign up!