Charlie Jones obviously made the right decision for him
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Charlie Jones is a sore subject for Hawkeye fans because he represents so much of what is wrong about the Iowa football team’s offense.
His decision to transfer from Iowa to Purdue made sense when it happened in June, and now it makes even more sense, considering how well he is playing.
Jones wanted to showcase his receiver skills for the NFL in a better passing offense, and Purdue certainly has a better passing offense than Iowa.
That’s kind of like comparing Steely Dan to Air Supply.
Jones leads the Big Ten in catches (72) and receiving yards (840) heading into Saturday’s much-anticipated matchup against his former school.
He also has nine touchdown receptions, which ranks second in the conference.
To help put his numbers in perspective, Iowa’s top three wide receivers have combined for 42 catches and 466 yards and one touchdown.
One of those three receivers, senior Nico Ragaini, was among a handful of Iowa players that were made available at Tuesday’s weekly press conference, and Ragaini knew exactly what most of the questions would be about.
“I figured I’d come out here and every question would be about Charlie, so I just tried to prepare myself before I walked out here,” Ragaini said.
Not every question asked to Ragaini was about Jones, but most of them were and Ragaini handled what could be an awkward situation just fine.
He lived with Jones during the Covid year inn 2020 and with that a friendship developed.
That’s why Jones’ decision to transfer, which came after spring practice, caught Ragaini by surprise.
“It was a surprise, I guess,” Ragaini said. “I didn’t expect anyone to leave because we have such a brotherhood here and everything.
“But he left and if you don’t want to be here, you can’t force anyone to be here. And just wishing him luck and that’s really it.”
Some could say that Jones quit on the team that gave him a chance to play at the Power Five level.
He came to Iowa as a walk-on in 2019 after having spent two seasons playing for Buffalo.
So, yes, Iowa gave Jones an opportunity to play Big Ten football, but Jones also came to Iowa without a scholarship and then he proved himself.
Jones was named the Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year last season, but he only had 21 receptions for 321 yards and three touchdowns, and he wasn’t a starter at receiver.
He also was listed behind Ragaini on the depth chart at the end of spring practice.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz was asked at his weekly press conference on Tuesday if he thinks that Jones, based on what he has accomplished in eight games at Purdue, maybe wasn’t used enough as a receiver at Iowa.
“I would argue he’s a much better player than he was,” Kirk Ferentz said. “I thought he was much better at the end of spring practice as a receiver. Upper echelon return guy. He’s been really good.
“Obviously, that was very evident going back to early 2020. But he’s really progressed as a receiver. Not saying he was a bad receiver then, but he’s a much better one, much better in April.”
Kirk Ferentz seems to be suggesting that Iowa helped to make Jones what he is today for Purdue as a game-changing receiver.
And while maybe that is the case, Kirk Ferentz loses credibility due to how poorly the Iowa offense has performed this season.
It seems obvious that Jones left Iowa because he didn’t believe the offense, or the circumstances, would help him reach his potential as a receiver.
Jones said just prior to the season that he transferred to Purdue because he felt the passing offense under head coach Jeff Brohm would better showcase his receiving skills for the NFL scouts.
And you can’t argue with that.
Purdue has one of the most productive passing offenses in the Big Ten, and its starting quarterback, Aidan O’Connell, grew up near Jones in the Chicago suburbs and they have been close friends for years.
They also played youth sports together, so to have a childhood friend throwing passes to him in a highly explosive spread offense was just too good for Jones to pass up.
Purdue also had to replace star receiver David Bell, who has moved on to the NFL after having caused fits for the Iowa defense.
Jones has answered that challenge by accumulating numbers that are similar to, or even better than what Bell had as a Boilermaker.
Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday that he isn’t surprised that Jones has been this productive for Purdue.
“Doesn’t surprise us at all,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Surprised’ is probably a strong word. I think the way college football is evolving right now, if you’re surprised by much that happens in terms of player movement and those types of things, probably shame on you.
“I don’t know if ‘surprise’ is the right word, but the timing. To me, if you think a guy is going to leave a program, you would do it back in the wintertime, get there, go through the spring practice, start learning the offense, that type of thing, also their system, get to know his teammates.”
With Jones performing at such a high level, it’s easy to forget about Tyrone Tracy Jr., the other veteran receiver that transferred from Iowa to Purdue after last season.
Tracy hasn’t put up numbers anywhere close to what Jones has after eight games, but Tracy is used both as a runner and receiver in the Purdue offense.
“I played with Charlie and Tyrone for the past couple years in practice,” said Iowa strong safety Kaevon Merriweather. “I don’t want to say it’s no different than that. But it’s going to be like playing against them again like we used to do in practice.
“So, it’s definitely going to be exciting to actually be able to kind of lay a hit on those guys. So, it’ll definitely be fun.”
Kirk Ferentz had to realize that he would be asked multiple questions about Jones at Tuesday’s press conference because it’s an unusual and an intriguing storyline.
Ferentz seemed okay with the line of questions until he was asked if Jones’s success at Purdue, coupled with his lack of success as a receiver at Iowa, could hurt Iowa’s recruiting.
“We’ll worry about that later on,” Ferentz said. “Right now, we’re just trying to worry about Purdue.
“It’s hard to quantify all that stuff. Again, I would just suggest, me personally, I think he’s a better receiver, was a better receiver at the end of spring practice than he was at the start. Like a lot of our players. A lot of our players grow and develop as they go through their careers.”
Jones is certainly a better receiver at Purdue than he was at Iowa, and from an optics standpoint, it just doesn’t look good for Iowa, or for Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who is Kirk Ferentz’s son.
It now looks as if Jones was under-utilized, under-valued and maybe even under-appreciated as a receiver at Iowa.
Because to think that he would improve this much during 15 spring practices at Iowa seems to be a reach.
Kirk Ferentz on if he ever thinks they should’ve used Charlie Jones more as a receiver. pic.twitter.com/cCddCe4WhP
— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) November 1, 2022