Brandon Zimmerman
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Ohio State Pre-Fall Outlook: Quarterbacks
Brandon Zimmerman via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The countdown is on, our Saturdays of watching How I Met your Mother reruns are close to being put away for a few months. With a little over a month left until the 2016 Buckeyes fall camp officially begins on August 7th, I figured now would be the perfect time to take a look back at my Pre-Spring outlooks for each of the positional groups and see where the 2016 Buckeyes stand.
Last year, the quarterback position was the talk of the nation. Who would be the starter? In one corner you had Cardale Jones the man who had just led the Buckeyes on a magical run through Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon en route to a National Championship. On the other side, you had Joe Thomas Barrett who had taken over for Braxton Miller prior to the season started and combined for over 3,700 yards of total offense while accumulating 45 touchdowns before being hurt in the game against TTUN. The third option and complete wild card was some guy named Braxton Miller, who had won two straight Silver Football Awards before being injured and missing the entire 2014 season as the quarterback.
Every college football show discussed this ad nauseam and by the time Coach Meyer made his decision, the Ohio State fan base had collectively decided it did not matter.
This year is a completely different situation as Buckeye Nation realized
Your 2016 Heisman contender, J.T. Barrett.
quarterback controversies are sooo two-thousand late.
This year, the decision was fairly simple after Jones and Miller were drafted by the Bills and Texans respectively. The man at the helm for the Buckeyes is obviously the junior from Wichita Falls, J.T. Barrett, who began the year as a back-up to Jones and worked his way into starting position and finished up very strong. In the Fiesta Bowl against a stacked Notre Dame squad, Barrett played some of his best ball of the year throwing for 211 yard and adding 96 yards on the ground leading the Buckeyes to a dominating victory.
As I wrote about in February, the biggest battle will be for the QB2 position behind Barrett which has proved time and time again to be vitally important. I predicted that redshirt freshman Joe Burrow would take the QB2 job beating out redshirt sophomore Stephen Collier. The spring game came and went and Burrow appears to have a firm grip on the number two position after a spectacular performance and unfortunate injury to Collier. For the spring game, Burrow threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to his stats, his touch and pocket presence is what got everyone excited. He stood in the face of pressure and delivered catchable ball after catchable ball.
Burrow had an impressive spring. (Image courtesy of thelantern.com)
As I mentioned before, Collier was in the middle of a heated battle for the QB2 position until he was sidelined with a knee injury which he ultimately had surgery on in May. Unfortunately, he is expected to miss the entire 2016 season. With Collier’s injury, the next man up to battle Burrow for the back-up job is true freshman Dwayne Haskins.
Haskins was a highly touted quarterback coming out of Maryland in this year’s recruiting class and has been praised for his advanced skillset. I honestly don’t foresee a situation where he beats out Burrow for the back-up quarterback job unless Burrow goes down with an injury. I think Coach Meyer and his staff will do everything in their power to allow Haskins to sit back and learn this year and compete with Burrow and the incoming freshman star quarterbacks for the starting position next year after Barrett leaves for the NFL draft.
Pre-Spring Predicted Depth Chart Pre-Fall Predicted Depth Chart
1. J.T. Barrett 1. J.T. Barrett
2. Joe Burrow 2. Joe Burrow
3. Stephen Collier 3. Dwayne Haskins
Just like this year’s quarterback competition, there is no drama here. Barring any injuries, this will be the depth chart heading into the opener against Bowling Green.
The post Ohio State Pre-Fall Outlook: Quarterbacks appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Brandon Zimmerman via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The countdown is on, our Saturdays of watching How I Met your Mother reruns are close to being put away for a few months. With a little over a month left until the 2016 Buckeyes fall camp officially begins on August 7th, I figured now would be the perfect time to take a look back at my Pre-Spring outlooks for each of the positional groups and see where the 2016 Buckeyes stand.
Last year, the quarterback position was the talk of the nation. Who would be the starter? In one corner you had Cardale Jones the man who had just led the Buckeyes on a magical run through Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon en route to a National Championship. On the other side, you had Joe Thomas Barrett who had taken over for Braxton Miller prior to the season started and combined for over 3,700 yards of total offense while accumulating 45 touchdowns before being hurt in the game against TTUN. The third option and complete wild card was some guy named Braxton Miller, who had won two straight Silver Football Awards before being injured and missing the entire 2014 season as the quarterback.
Every college football show discussed this ad nauseam and by the time Coach Meyer made his decision, the Ohio State fan base had collectively decided it did not matter.
This year is a completely different situation as Buckeye Nation realized
Your 2016 Heisman contender, J.T. Barrett.
quarterback controversies are sooo two-thousand late.
This year, the decision was fairly simple after Jones and Miller were drafted by the Bills and Texans respectively. The man at the helm for the Buckeyes is obviously the junior from Wichita Falls, J.T. Barrett, who began the year as a back-up to Jones and worked his way into starting position and finished up very strong. In the Fiesta Bowl against a stacked Notre Dame squad, Barrett played some of his best ball of the year throwing for 211 yard and adding 96 yards on the ground leading the Buckeyes to a dominating victory.
As I wrote about in February, the biggest battle will be for the QB2 position behind Barrett which has proved time and time again to be vitally important. I predicted that redshirt freshman Joe Burrow would take the QB2 job beating out redshirt sophomore Stephen Collier. The spring game came and went and Burrow appears to have a firm grip on the number two position after a spectacular performance and unfortunate injury to Collier. For the spring game, Burrow threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to his stats, his touch and pocket presence is what got everyone excited. He stood in the face of pressure and delivered catchable ball after catchable ball.
Burrow had an impressive spring. (Image courtesy of thelantern.com)
As I mentioned before, Collier was in the middle of a heated battle for the QB2 position until he was sidelined with a knee injury which he ultimately had surgery on in May. Unfortunately, he is expected to miss the entire 2016 season. With Collier’s injury, the next man up to battle Burrow for the back-up job is true freshman Dwayne Haskins.
Haskins was a highly touted quarterback coming out of Maryland in this year’s recruiting class and has been praised for his advanced skillset. I honestly don’t foresee a situation where he beats out Burrow for the back-up quarterback job unless Burrow goes down with an injury. I think Coach Meyer and his staff will do everything in their power to allow Haskins to sit back and learn this year and compete with Burrow and the incoming freshman star quarterbacks for the starting position next year after Barrett leaves for the NFL draft.
Pre-Spring Predicted Depth Chart Pre-Fall Predicted Depth Chart
1. J.T. Barrett 1. J.T. Barrett
2. Joe Burrow 2. Joe Burrow
3. Stephen Collier 3. Dwayne Haskins
Just like this year’s quarterback competition, there is no drama here. Barring any injuries, this will be the depth chart heading into the opener against Bowling Green.
The post Ohio State Pre-Fall Outlook: Quarterbacks appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...