| 17 April 2011
I gave my reasons why I thought Bauserman would be the starter. We are less than a week away from the spring game. Nothing that has happened in practice has changed my thinking. I still believe this will be about a quarterback who does not lose the game. That means putting a veteran in there. What has happened during spring reinforces my belief that not only is Bauserman the choice, he is the right choice.
There was a discussion on Bucknuts about the fact that the receivers are dropping too many balls. As I looked at the depth chart something leaped out at me. Eight scholarship receivers including the income Devin Smith and Evan Spencer. Of the eight, six are first or second year players. The veterans include Devier Posey who will be missing the first five games. The scrimmage Saturday added more fuel to the fire. Receivers continue to drop footballs. That is more fuel that we are going to see a heavy dose of quarterbacks handing the ball off. Add to that equation the fact that Rod Smith is showing he is going to be everything he was cracked up to be. We will see a heavy dose of Tresselball in the first five games.
The best argument for Miller to be the starter is his mobility. For the first five games there will be only two linemen in the starting lineup who have any kind of game experience to speak of. It is likely there will be two first year starters at the guard spots. We don't know who is going to be at left tackle. I don't see another player beyond Mike Adams who will be on the roster this fall who I would say his best position is left tackle. I don't recall seeing Andrew Norwell getting any game reps at left tackle last year. Hall did not play at all last year. I don't recall game reps at left tackle for him two years ago. Out of position and lack of game reps at the position is worrisome. That Miller is the best option because of his mobility is saying the quarterback is going to be under a good deal of pressure. I think it is also the strongest argument to not play him. He is not going to learn how to be a quarterback at this level if he is running for his life. He is going to become a quarterback who thinks run first. Beyond learning to play quarterback the wrong way, and/or becoming gunshy, we could get him hurt.
Taylor Graham is the best quarterback on the roster right now. That is just a fact. Miller is a better raw talent especially when you add the mobility element into the equation, but Graham is as good a passer. He has an even bigger arm. He is more ready to run the Buckeye offense, and he is more ready to face a D-1 defense. If Bauserman comes out it will be Graham going in. Yes, before Guiton. It is official. Graham has passed Guiton on the depth chart.
Guiton has to consider his future. He has to decide if he is more interested in being a Buckeye or playing football. He is an out of state kid. I think that plays a role in his decision. Growing up with a school, that school being so much a part of your life, makes it harder to walk away from. He is now behind a player who is younger than him. He needs two players to get hurt before he gets a shot to play. In the middle of October that number becomes three as Pryor returns. To make matters worse he is just ahead of the player who is the designated heir apparent. By the time that many quarterbacks get hurt or play so badly that the Guiton would be the next option, you have to think the staff would decide it is time to look forward. That means Miller. Guiton needed to stay number two to have a shot at starting. He needed to be high enough on the depth chart that the staff would not start looking toward the future.
With that in mind what is the recruiting strategy? It would not surprise me that the staff would go hard after Shane Dillon or some other elite quarterback. A Kenny Guiton transfer means we play 2012 with two scholarship quarterbacks. Both have had some injuries. Graham missed his junior and senior years to injury. Miller has missed games to injury. The stellar 2013 class is one where there are several franchise quarterbacks. You have to think there is a future star coming out of that class. Taking a lesser kid in 2012 makes no sense. Talk about a waste of a scholarship. The offer to Dillon tells me the staff could have projected this scenario unfolding six months ago or longer.
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