| 09 January 2011
Now that the Sugar Bowl is over I thought fans would immediately turn to recruiting. I see some serious interest but the way Jim Tressel and his staff do things there is so little to pay attention to. They get it done early for the most part then try to pick up a few players later with honest to goodness hard work. So much of recruiting that is done this late is smoke and mirrors and flat out cheating. That is something you will not see this staff do. Picking up a couple of national players this late in the process in linebacker Ryan Shazier and cornerback Doran Grant is nothing short of a coup. Any of the others that come in, elite linebacker Curtis Grant or national top ten receiver Ja'Juan Story to name the players at the top of my want list, are just gravy. Fans seem to realize this as the attention has turned to what is going to happen in the fall with the spots opened up by the suspensions of five players, four being starters. There is one that stands above them all. That would be who steps in for Terrelle Pryor.
Unlike in the past there are really solid options to step into the quarterback spot. Ohio State has not been a quarterback school. Ohio has not been a quarterback producing state. That is the basis of all recruiting. Instate talent. Kids that want to come to a school because they love that school. They imitated players from that school growing up. It doesn't matter whether they were pro players or not. As kids those players were their heroes. I am talking about players like Braxton Miller.
When we talk about who is going to step in for Pryor that is the name that comes up the most. I don't think he would be the first name out of the mouths of most fans if not for the fact that he is already enrolled. He will be here for spring practice. I think this was going to be an intense spring for the quarterbacks. Even without the suspension Pryor is going to be a senior. So is Joe Bauserman. There is going to be a new quarterback under center in 2012. I think Pryor would have stood around throwing on the sideline anyway. Time to start looking for that replacement right now. Coach Tressel is a planner. I suspect he wanted to come out of this spring with a pecking order between Miller, Taylor Graham and Kenny Guiton. Get the most reps for the one who is most likely going to be the starter in 2012 so you install him as the number three, and maybe as the number two.
The suspension has turned this spring into spring of 2012. The intensity will be ratcheted up as the top quarterback will be the starter September of 2011.
Kenny Guiton is the only one of the youngsters with game experience. He is throwing so much better than he did in high school. Quarterback coach Nick Siciliano got skewered by Buckeye fans when Terrelle Pryor did not seem to improve early in his tenure. Pryor was so much better this year that Siciliano got some credit but I would point to Guitons high school film and the way he is throwing now as proof that coach Siciliano is doing a good job. Guiton is an excellent runner and has come around as a passer but he is not in the same ballpark throwing the ball as either Miller or Graham.
Graham is the one we know the least about. He missed all but a few games in both his junior and senior year due to season ending injuries early on. Rust was a big concern as was losing two years of development. Reports coming out of practice all year were constant and consistent. This kid was not showing any signs of rust. He showed no symptoms of suffering from the loss of time under center, picking everything up and executing like he had not missed any time. The one thing we saw on film was an arm that allowed the coaches to call any play in the playbook. He had the arm to get the ball anywhere it needed to be.
Miller is coming off a senior year where he showed he is ready to play right away. He is a special player. He is a better quarterback prospect than Terrelle Pryor. Yes I aid that. He throws better as a high school senior than Pryor throws right now. Miller is not ideal sized while Pryor is a freak of nature. That is why Pryor had a national level of hype that we never saw with Miller. Miller is so far advanced as a decision maker and as far as seeing the field is concerned that there is no comparison. He has as good if not better an arm than Pryor. His mechanics are so solid they likely do not even talk to him about his motion. His release is as good as you will ever see on a high school quarterback.
You will notice I have not talked about Bauserman untill now. I think Bauserman being the starter is odds on and I am going to tell you why. He is a grown man who has been playing college football for four years. JT is loyal to his seniors but there is sound reasoning behind that. He wants that experience in there. Jim Tressel is not going to lose games on offense. He is going to have the best stable of running backs he has ever had here. He is going to run the ball more in the suspension period, whether that be four or five games. I can see the NCAA dropping the suspension to four games but it is just not going to go below that. I also think that starting Bauserman allows coach Tressel to go back to Pryor when the suspension is over. That would be so much harder to do with one of the youngsters. To start him then push him to the bench seems counterproductive especially if the team is playing well.
Think about this. The Buckeyes start the season 4-0 with Miller or Graham or Guiton as the starter. Pryor comes back after a four game suspension. He gets the start at quarterback and the Buckeyes lose to Michigan State.Do I need to say it? You know what the headlines are going to be. The last thing he needs is a quarterback controversy.
Another thing to think about is the possibility of redshirting Miller. I think it is a great idea. With a senior as backup to Pryor in Bauserman, Jim Tressel is going to give him some reps. That means Miller is no better than the third team guy. He is just not going to play enough to warrant blowing a year. Quarterback is the hardest position in all of sport to master. The more reps a quarterback gets the better. We also have to ask what about Taylor Graham? We push him to fourth on the depth chart? If we do I don't know how we hand onto him. I think Guiton has to make a real challenge in the spring to stick around. If he is number three out of the three younger quarterbacks I think we lose him. I think the odds of him being number three are pretty good. Losing Graham too means no scholarship back-up for 2012. The staff has to finesse this thing to hold onto one of Graham or Guiton. Then again, maybe the Buckeyes offer Cardale Jones and let the cards fall where they will.
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