Big Ten Football Preview: Quarterback Rankings
1. Ohio State Buckeyes: Cardale Jones, Redshirt junior; Braxton Miller, Redshirt senior; J.T. Barrett, Redshirt sophomore
Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones (12) addresses the fans as fellow quarterbacks Braxton Miller (5) and J.T. Barrett (16) listen during the National Championship celebration at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
All eyes will be on the Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback battle between Jones, Miller, and Barrett. All three of these quarterbacks could start on any team in the country, which presents head coach Urban Meyer with a pretty unique, yet great problem to have.
It’ll be quite interesting to see how Meyer handles this competition. He could base it off of seniority and give the starting job to Miller. In three seasons with the Buckeyes, he completed 395 passes for 5,292 yards and 52 touchdowns, which looks astounding in comparison to his 17 interceptions. Miller also rushed for 3,054 yards and 32 touchdowns in his three years. He also has a career quarterback rating of 146.7. However, he went down with an injury and in came J.T. Barrett.
Barrett played 12 games for Ohio State in 2014 and boy, was it spectacular. He threw for 2,834 yards and 34 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions. His quarterback rating at the end of the season was 169.8. Barrett also rushed for 938 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Then, you have Cardale Jones, who has all the momentum after leading the Buckeyes to a national championship victory last season. Jones appeared in 10 games and threw for 860 yards and seven touchdowns. He has the hot hand right now, going into the season, but for some reason he feels as though he is the third string quarterback right now.
Either way, the Ohio State Buckeyes are primed for another great season and it’ll be in large part, because of the quarterback play, whoever that may be. Whichever player comes out on top will likely be in the running for the Heisman Trophy.