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2015-16 Ohio State Quarterback Discussion

Braxton is electric with the ball in his hands, that is not going to change if he splits time with J.T.


I agree that he's electric with his legs, but offense has run much more efficiently with a QB that can get the ball in the hands of his weapons and not have to rely on himself so much. Braxton should have some packages run for him and maybe be split out, but I just don't see him being our starting QB. Not after what JT is doing to the Big 10 this year, and how inefficient Braxton ran our offense last year.
 
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I agree that he's electric with his legs, but offense has run much more efficiently with a QB that can get the ball in the hands of his weapons and not have to rely on himself so much. Braxton should have some packages run for him and maybe be split out, but I just don't see him being our starting QB. Not after what JT is doing to the Big 10 this year, and how inefficient Braxton ran our offense last year.

The offense has run much more efficiently with a functional WR corps. Even Barrett struggled until that group stopped dropping passes and got their shit together. There's no telling what a healthy Miller would have done with this year's team.
 
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Um, hes not an NFL caliber QB anyway. His best bet is RB or WR like Hairlice Robinson, Brad Smith, Randle El, etc. His arm barely won us Big 10 games last year, the teams he barely could throw against last year, JT is torching through the air.

That is not an entirely fair statement, in my IMO. Yes, Barrett looked much better against Sparty, but I think maybe people are forgetting just how bad he looked against Penn State.

I also think people are forgetting how good Miller looked against Penn State, Iowa, Purdue, and Wisconsin last year. He put up some really really good passing numbers up through October.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/braxton-miller-1/gamelog/
 
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That is not an entirely fair statement, in my IMO. Yes, Barrett looked much better against Sparty, but I think maybe people are forgetting just how bad he looked against Penn State.

I also think people are forgetting how good Miller looked against Penn State, Iowa, Purdue, and Wisconsin last year. He put up some really really good passing numbers up through October.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/braxton-miller-1/gamelog/

You're also forgetting how bad Miller looked starting in November through thw rest of thw season. Illinois and IU he did pretty bad, and scUM is a rival we should've curb stomped and Gardner far outperformed him. And cook outperformed him in the Big 10 championship. Miller had 2 years in this offense as the clear starter and Barrett has had one, and so far its not even close that Barrett has outperformed Miller's stats from last year. Im not down on Miller, but just being realistic and using my eyes to see thisb year vs last year, and almost the same WRs and TEs were there from last year, and Barrett is putting up a better all around performance this year. And our offense is less reliant on one man like last year, we utilize all of our weapons, something Braxton hasn't done. Barrett finds open men and puts the ball on a rope as a redshirt frosh, I can only imagine what he'll look like with a full off season working as a starter with the swagger knowing he has a leg up on the competition, as opposed to knowing he was keeping someone's seat warm this past off season
 
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You're also forgetting how bad Miller looked starting in November through thw rest of thw season. Illinois and IU he did pretty bad, and scUM is a rival we should've curb stomped and Gardner far outperformed him. And cook outperformed him in the Big 10 championship.
I'll never understand head to head comparisons (which are common in game - or position battle - previews). They don't face each other and usually face very different opposition. Cook was playing the worst secondary in my lifetime. Braxton was playing the best secondary anywhere in years (and an exceptionally rare one in this era). He came up 60 yds short of Cook.

Also, are you really arguing that Miller's Michigan performance is counted among his bad performances? He had 286 yds & 5 tds and his running mate had 226 yds. Meanwhile I think Devin just completed another tunnel screen.
Im not down on Miller, but just being realistic and using my eyes to see thisb year vs last year, and almost the same WRs and TEs were there from last year
There was 1 reliable WR last year (and not in the last 2 games as he wasn't healthy). He had to play out of position to give them a little bit of production at the H position, where he was adequate. Dontre was a decoy and a major liability when he did not get the ball. Dontre is way ahead of his former self and Jalin is on another level from any 2013 counterpart you wish to align him with.

There is no comparison between the two groups of playmakers. It's not enough to explain away Braxton's struggles but then that sentence also applies to JT against VT.
Barrett finds open men and puts the ball on a rope as a redshirt frosh
He's done that once, and it was a shocking reversal from the youngster we saw in Happy Valley. It was also the first game I've seen him hit the deep ball in stride. It was also a rare occurrence of a well rounded, consistent effort from Devin Smith when it came to the little things.

Let's hope he does that every week, but until he does, I'm not about to write off the most explosive QB in america.

IF he does keep playing that way, then you have an incredibly dynamic package QB, simultaneously limiting the hits on JT and the injury prone Braxton.
 
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I'll never understand head to head comparisons (which are common in game - or position battle - previews). They don't face each other and usually face very different opposition. Cook was playing the worst secondary in my lifetime. Braxton was playing the best secondary anywhere in years (and an exceptionally rare one in this era). He came up 60 yds short of Cook.

Also, are you really arguing that Miller's Michigan performance is counted among his bad performances? He had 286 yds & 5 tds and his running mate had 226 yds. Meanwhile I think Devin just completed another tunnel screen.
There was 1 reliable WR last year (and not in the last 2 games as he wasn't healthy). He had to play out of position to give them a little bit of production at the H position, where he was adequate. Dontre was a decoy and a major liability when he did not get the ball. Dontre is way ahead of his former self and Jalin is on another level from any 2013 counterpart you wish to align him with.

There is no comparison between the two groups of playmakers. It's not enough to explain away Braxton's struggles but then that sentence also applies to JT against VT.
He's done that once, and it was a shocking reversal from the youngster we saw in Happy Valley. It was also the first game I've seen him hit the deep ball in stride. It was also a rare occurrence of a well rounded, consistent effort from Devin Smith when it came to the little things.

Let's hope he does that every week, but until he does, I'm not about to write off the most explosive QB in america.

IF he does keep playing that way, then you have an incredibly dynamic package QB, simultaneously limiting the hits on JT and the injury prone Braxton.

We can only compare our 2 QBs based on th last season and this one. And this season has seen a better all around offense, imo. You proved my memory wrong on the scUM game, but in my eyes JT has performed better with this offense than Braxton had last year. Granted they were different offenses, but still explosive enough to have very highly ranked teams. Braxton is one of the most explosive ATHLETES in the nation, JT is a better all around QB based on watching this year and last, imo.
 
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We can only compare our 2 QBs based on th last season and this one. And this season has seen a better all around offense, imo. You proved my memory wrong on the scUM game, but in my eyes JT has performed better with this offense than Braxton had last year. Granted they were different offenses, but still explosive enough to have very highly ranked teams. Braxton is one of the most explosive ATHLETES in the nation, JT is a better all around QB based on watching this year and last, imo.
I think JT has been a lot more efficient than Braxton, though I think Braxton was pretty strong through the first 2/3 of the sason. I also saw JT get shut down by a very average VT defense and a good but not elite PSU defense. Naturally you'd expect hiccups like that from a freshman. It's a shame that we never had a chance to see Braxton with this bunch (and if he heals he will be extremely raw). Naturally if his arm is a mess, then there is no contest, though you will still see a ton of him as a wildcat QB. Jalin is a special talent but is not in Braxton's zipcode in terms of elusiveness and quickness. If he can throw, he will play a lot, and not at tailback or in any eleventy-QB-formations, even if JT is the man at the position.
 
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I think JT has been a lot more efficient than Braxton, though I think Braxton was pretty strong through the first 2/3 of the sason. I also saw JT get shut down by a very average VT defense and a good but not elite PSU defense. Naturally you'd expect hiccups like that from a freshman. It's a shame that we never had a chance to see Braxton with this bunch (and if he heals he will be extremely raw). Naturally if his arm is a mess, then there is no contest, though you will still see a ton of him as a wildcat QB. Jalin is a special talent but is not in Braxton's zipcode in terms of elusiveness and quickness. If he can throw, he will play a lot, and not at tailback or in any eleventy-QB-formations, even if JT is the man at the position.

Penn State's defense is elite. At least in that environment. Barrett's struggles can probably be directly attributed to how freaking LOUD that place is.

It's their O that sucks.
 
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IF Braxton has a complete recovery, and IF he is not able to start throwing until fall camp, and IF JT continues to progress, I don't see Braxton being anything but a situational player early in the year. (Yes, I know that's a lot of ifs). After not having thrown for a year it will take his arm and mind several weeks to be game ready. I could see him being used more and more as the season progresses. For purely physical reasons (his arm recovering from surgery) I don't see him as the starter going into the season.
 
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I'll never understand head to head comparisons (which are common in game - or position battle - previews). They don't face each other and usually face very different opposition. Cook was playing the worst secondary in my lifetime. Braxton was playing the best secondary anywhere in years (and an exceptionally rare one in this era). He came up 60 yds short of Cook.

Also, are you really arguing that Miller's Michigan performance is counted among his bad performances? He had 286 yds & 5 tds and his running mate had 226 yds. Meanwhile I think Devin just completed another tunnel screen.
There was 1 reliable WR last year (and not in the last 2 games as he wasn't healthy). He had to play out of position to give them a little bit of production at the H position, where he was adequate. Dontre was a decoy and a major liability when he did not get the ball. Dontre is way ahead of his former self and Jalin is on another level from any 2013 counterpart you wish to align him with.

There is no comparison between the two groups of playmakers. It's not enough to explain away Braxton's struggles but then that sentence also applies to JT against VT.
He's done that once, and it was a shocking reversal from the youngster we saw in Happy Valley. It was also the first game I've seen him hit the deep ball in stride. It was also a rare occurrence of a well rounded, consistent effort from Devin Smith when it came to the little things.

Let's hope he does that every week, but until he does, I'm not about to write off the most explosive QB in america.

IF he does keep playing that way, then you have an incredibly dynamic package QB, simultaneously limiting the hits on JT and the injury prone Braxton.

I wouldn't say it's bad, but it highlights something. It's also a misnomer to count stats for the QB position like that. Running yards are always nice, but they simply are not what's needed from the QB position. There's a stable of running backs (last year and this) that will get the yards on the ground. Last year, almost every press conference post-game featured Urban talking about how we needed to be more balanced. Why do you think that was? I ignored it most of the year b/c Hyde and Brax were monsters and scarlet-tinted glasses.. but it eventually caught up with us and Urban proved prophetic.
6/15 133yds 2 TD 1 Int
8/21 101yds 1 TD
16/24 234yds 2 TD 2 Int

I don't really like having this discussion b/c it sounds like placing blame on Brax when the issues in those 3 games was definitively the defense and he played with all the heart in the world. Nonetheless, it's a discussion worth having.
Against the likes of sanctioned PSU, Iowa, Purdue, etc. a gifted running QB that doesn't hold anything back will be more than sufficient.
Against elite teams, you need a QB that can get it to his surrounding cast. I think you put too much blame for that on the receivers themselves - I also think some of us have put too much blame on Herman when he probably had a better idea of Brax can/cannot do than any of us. Vannett, Heuerman, Smith, Spencer did not have revelations over the Summer. Thomas for Philly is basically a wash. Swapping Hyde for Eze+Samuel, Wilson for Wilson 2.0+Marshall... there is some talent lost and some talent gained. Overall gain, but not nearly as much as you try to make out. The core group is not significantly different.
And it showed on the field.
Again, consider what MSU did to us. What they did to Nebraska's 2-headed monster of Armstrong+Abdullah. What they almost did to Mariotta (who actually is the most electric QB in the country for my money) - until he beat them with his arm 17/28 318yds 3TD.
Do those numbers look a little familiar to 16/26 300yds 3TD?
I love Braxton, but I'm not going to lie to myself and pretend he would've thrown for 300 yards on Saturday. Would he have got 350+ yds total offense? Probably... but MSU would've been able to stack the box and I don't think we have the lead going into half time or able to overcome all that bad stuff (penalties, missed FG, fumbles, dropped int, etc.)
 
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