Ohio State legend Cardale Jones is keepin' it real ... telling TMZ Sports despite his Buckeye ties, if he had the #1 pick in the NFL draft, he'd take Trevor Lawrence over Justin Fields.
"I'm going to try to be unbiased as possible," Jones says, "but I'm going to pick Trevor."
As for why, the ex-OSU QB says it's pretty simple -- he believes Lawrence has played at a higher level for longer than Fields -- this despite Justin beating the Clemson superstar in last week's College Football Playoff semifinal.