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Football
Flash Forward: Quarterback
By Brandon Castel

Time doesn’t slow down for anyone.

Not even Terrelle Pryor.

While it might look like everyone else is moving in slow motion when Pryor is running with the ball in his hands, even the fleet-footed quarterback out of Pennsylvania can’t outrun the time he’s been given.

It’s hard to believe it has already been two years since we would have been “flashing forward” to Pryor’s days at Ohio State. And yet all of a sudden, his career is half over and already Buckeye fans are looking towards the “next” big thing at quarterback.

That’s not to say they’re ready to ditch Pryor, who has two more seasons to establish himself as one of the all-time greats in Columbus, but it’s almost become an addiction to know what, or more accurately who, is next.

In this case, his name is Braxton Miller.

In our latest “Flash Forward” piece we take a look at Pryor, Miller and the future of the quarterback position at Ohio State. 

Key losses in 2011: None

Projected 2011 Returning Depth Chart:

QUARTERBACK
2 Terrelle Pryor (6-6, 233, Sr.)
14 Joe Bauserman (6-1, 233, RSr.) OR
13 Kenny Guiton (6-2, 190, RSo.)
19 Taylor Graham (6-4, 225, Class of 2010)
Braxton Miller (6-2, 185, Class of 2011)

2011 Offers at Quarterback: 1

2011 Commitments: (1)

Braxton Miller (6-2, 185, Class of 2011)

While Miller is no Terrelle Pryor in terms of size and pure athleticism, he is easily one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the country for 2011 and the first real “franchise quarterback” to commit to the Bucks since Pryor back in the spring of 2008.

It’s hard to say exactly where he ranks as a prospect because the recruiting services are all over the board. While Rivals.com rates him low as the No. 56 prospect in their top 100, The Sporting News has him at 21 overall and Scout.com has him all the way up at No. 1 in their class of 2011. One thing all of them agree on, however, is that Miller is one of the top 2-3 high school quarterbacks in the country.

He scored 18 touchdowns on the ground and nine through the air last season, but his biggest problem has been staying healthy. Although he has good size for a quarterback (6-2), Miller is slim and probably close to the 185 pounds he is listed at. As a result, he has played in only 15 games the last two seasons. That makes it all the more impressive that he’s been able to put up numbers and draw interest from just about every school in the country (he held offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, USC and Wisconsin when he committed to the Buckeyes back in early June.

But Jim Tressel and his staff have been in on Miller since the time he took over as the starting quarterback at Huber Heights Wayne as a freshman back in 2007. They will still have four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster—assuming no transfers—when he arrives next year, but both Pryor and Joe Bauserman will be in their final go-around with the Buckeyes.

Assuming Pryor returns, that would rule out the possibility of Miller following in his footsteps by competing for the starting job as a true freshman, but the race will be wide open after Pryor leaves in 2012. Kenny Guiton looked very good in the most recent spring game, and incoming freshman Taylor Graham (son of former Buckeye Kent Graham) has a cannon arm, but Miller would likely have every opportunity to compete with both of them.

2011 Targets:

Low: Cardale Jones (6-5, 217, Cleveland Glenville), Cole Stoudt (6-4, 195, Dublin Coffman)

The Buckeyes had some interest initially in both Jones and Stoudt, but Tressel and his staff promised Miller they wouldn’t offer any other quarterbacks until they got a decision from him. It was a recruiting tactic that could have majorly backfired on the Buckeyes had Miller chosen to go elsewhere, especially if he dragged it out until Signing Day only to leave them high and dry like LeBron James.

Instead, the move had the desired effect on Miller, who felt obligated to reward Ohio State’s loyalty with an early commitment.

“Two weeks ago I said I am going to cut this down and commit to (Ohio State) because they respected me by offering only one quarterback,” Miller said during a press conference held in his high school auditorium on June 3.

“I (wanted) to respect and commit.”

With Miller’s commitment, the Buckeyes are probably done at quarterback, like they told him they were. They like Stoudt as a second option, but not enough to risk keeping Miller. They also like Jones, who although he plays quarterback at Glenville, could play a number of positions at the next level.

But most quarterbacks are passionate about playing the position and Jones is no different. At 6-foot-5, he would make a mean wide receiver or safety, but there are enough schools—big ones at that—willing to give him a shot under center that it’s hard to imagine him signing up to play another position at OSU.

He already holds offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Penn State and West Virginia along with both Michigan and Michigan State. He is looking to cut down his list to five schools sometime this month and with a likely commitment coming before the season and still no offer from OSU, it’s unlikely he will ever play in Scarlet and Gray.

Quarterbacks in Last Five Classes

2010: Taylor Graham (Wheaton, Ill.)
2009: Kenny Guiton (Houston, Tex.)
2008: Terrelle Pryor (Jeannette, Pa.)
2007: Joe Bauserman (Strasburg, Va.)
2006: Antonio Henton (Fort Valley, Ga.)

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