WR Braxton Miller (B1G POY, National Champion)

[Oh8ch]

I have to admit I'm surprised. Watching the Brax get the hell knocked out of him in the Orange Bowl I was thinking 'he can't possible want to come back for more of that'

Wanting to and not really having an option are two different things.

Our OL will be depleted and we will still be relying on the read option - so the beatings will continue.

But it gives him one more chance to become an NFL caliber passer.

IMO Troy made that kind of transition as a senior. It at least got him a serious shot.

 

[gmen6981]

That is horrifying.

just trying to figure this out disturbs me

Happy dancing cat is happy Brax is coming back. But yeah, I may be a little twisted.

 

[LostLassie]

just trying to figure this out disturbs me

I'm just trying to figure out how they did it. I mean, cat body suit, yeah, but the rest of the paste up is kinda tricky.

 

[mendensa]

Wanting to and not really having an option are two different things.

Our OL will be depleted and we will still be relying on the read option - so the beatings will continue.

But it gives him one more chance to become an NFL caliber passer.

IMO Troy made that kind of transition as a senior. It at least got him a serious shot.

......and a Heisman

 

[ScriptOhio]

The "Pussification of America This Thread" continues.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Braxton needs only 505 yards and 2 touchdowns to become Ohio State's career leader in total offense and total touchdowns (Art Schlichter currently holds both records, with 8,850 yards and 85 touchdowns). This shouldn't surprise anyone who has followed Miller's career.

Here's what's really amazing: Braxton needs just 2,256 yards passing to become the Buckeyes' leading passer (Schlichter leads the way with 7,547 yards), and 715 yards rushing to become the Buckeyes' second-leading runner (Eddie George is currently #2 with 3,768 yards). In other words, Braxton could end up out-passing every other Buckeye quarterback, and out-rushing every Buckeye tailback except for the legendary Archie Griffin.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Those are unreal stats. Imagine if he figures out how to throw to spaces in a defense instead of right at his receivers. Kid is an amazing talent.

 

[SloopyHangOn]

Braxton needs only 505 yards and 2 touchdowns to become Ohio State's career leader in total offense and total touchdowns (Art Schlichter currently holds both records, with 8,850 yards and 85 touchdowns). This shouldn't surprise anyone who has followed Miller's career.

Here's what's really amazing: Braxton needs just 2,256 yards passing to become the Buckeyes' leading passer (Schlichter leads the way with 7,547 yards), and 715 yards rushing to become the Buckeyes' second-leading runner (Eddie George is currently #2 with 3,768 yards). In other words, Braxton could end up out-passing every other Buckeye quarterback, and out-rushing every Buckeye tailback except for the legendary Archie Griffin.

2300 passing 750 rushing is a VERY attainable season if Braxton is healthy and the offense is balanced. To think that these rankings are a REAL possibility is very exciting.

To play devil's advocate though, how many players on these lists started as many games as Brax? It's mostly irrelevant, but still an interesting note.

 

[maximumblitz]

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2014/01/19/herman-has-unfinished-business.html

“We were fifth in the country in rushing (averaging 308.6 yards), and without really relying on too many quarterback runs like we had the year before,” Herman said. “A lot of Braxton’s rushing yards this year came on reads and scrambles, and not on a whole lot of designed runs. That was encouraging.”

As for the passing game, Herman was pleased that the Buckeyes developed to the point where they were “competent,” as he put it, and set an Ohio State record with 38 touchdown passes. But, he added, there is plenty of room for growth.

“We weren’t great, we weren’t good, but we also weren’t incompetent like we had been the year before,” he said. “But we still feel like we have a ton of improvement left to go in that area.”

 

[SloopyHangOn]

Pretty depressing to hear your QB coach and playcaller say "at least we weren't incompetent again".

 

[pnuts34]

Pretty depressing to hear your QB coach and playcaller say "at least we weren't incompetent again".

Precisely why Braxton needed to return, and that he still has a lot to go before becoming an NFL ready QB. He's barely a college ready QB, and his coach is admitting such. I'm hoping this off season we see that extra progrssion. He works with George whitfield again, and has some spring and smmer sessions with his WRs and TEs also.

 

[RB07OSU]

Braxton needs to improve by about the same amount in the offseason as he has from his freshman to junior year. However, so many aspects are just purely mental aspects of the game that I am worried if he hasn't developed them by now, he never will. That isn't to say he isn't a great player, just to say he isn't an elite QB.

 

[Buckeye86]

Braxton needs to improve by about the same amount in the offseason as he has from his freshman to junior year. However, so many aspects are just purely mental aspects of the game that I am worried if he hasn't developed them by now, he never will. That isn't to say he isn't a great player, just to say he isn't an elite QB.

Almost every single throw in the NFL is an anticipation route where the QB throws to an area before the receiver has even made a cut and is looking for the ball or is an over the back shoulder throw into extremely tight coverage.

It's a balancing act of confidence because the good QBs routinely make throws into coverage that seem like they have no business not getting intercepted while the bad QBs do get intercepted and spiral out of the league quickly.

The next time Braxton makes either one of these throws- completed, intercepted, or otherwise will be the first time.

 

[Buckeye86]

And to be clear, making those throws requires NFL caliber WRs as well and Ohio State's certainly haven't been at that level for a few years either.

From a talent and coaching perspective, I think Ohio State is just now beginning to get back to what is expected and hopefully will begin to exceed those expectations this season.

Quality depth is still a year or two away IMO.

 

[ScriptOhio]

And to be clear, making those throws requires NFL caliber WRs as well and Ohio State's certainly haven't been at that level for a few years either.

From a talent and coaching perspective, I think Ohio State is just now beginning to get back to what is expected and hopefully will begin to exceed those expectations this season.

Quality depth is still a year or two away IMO.

Good point, they don't have to be NFL caliber; but they should (consistently) be able to hold on to the ball if it hits them in the chest and/or they get 2 hands on it. Also, (consistently) making the first defender miss and/or breaking a tackle on a screen pass would be great too. I don't have statistics to support this; however, I believe that the past few seasons Ohio State's receiver's statistics of YAC (yards after contact) are not that impressive.

Is Braxton currently ready for the NFL? Probably not.
Did Braxton make a good decision to return? I'd say YES.

I don't believe Braxton's overall play (i.e. passing, running, decision making, execution, and leadership, etc.) was all that bad. Yeah, I'm I'm sure there were several plays during this past season that he would like to have a "do over". However, overall he was (and is) an excellent quarterback. Yeah, I'm sure that there are a few plays this past year that he would like to have over. Sometimes the difference between a very good quarterback and a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and/or winning the National Championship game vs losing the Orange Bowl is how good your receivers are (see comments above).

Does he have room for improvement in 2014? Definitely YES, (and so does every every other returning player).