Realizing he isn’t going to get too many opportunities at quarterback for Ohio State, Braxton Miller is going to switch to wide receiver for his senior year, hoping it improves his chances of making the NFL.
Miller was a starter for three straight years in Columbus for the Buckeyes, winning two Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year awards and two All-Big Ten 1st Team selections. But Miller suffered a shoulder injury before the 2014 season began, keeping him out for the entire year. Now that he’s back, everything has changed.
The Buckeyes are national champions, and with a serious quarterback problem. A good one. J.T. Barrett (Redshirt sophomore this season) did a wonderful job in Miller’s place and like the rest of the team bounced back from the loss against Virginia Tech. He turned into a Heisman candidate, but was injured in the final regular season game against Michigan.
That gave Cardale Jones, the third string quarterback, a chance to step up. And he did. Remember, no one is recruited by Ohio State and other big schools to be a backup quarterback. Jones wasn’t perfect, but did well enough to lead Ohio State to wins in the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff, first stunning Alabama and then beating Oregon.
Miller was considering transferring, but instead chose to stay, and eventually made the choice of moving away from quarterback, hoping his other skills will help him stand out.
For the most part, it’s going to be H-Back and punt return. It’s a long process to get back totally to throwing and throwing every day. This is the smarter thing for right now, God blessed me with a lot of talent and different opportunities. I’m going to have fun with that and still score a lot of touchdowns and help the team out and be dominant at that.
Miller is fantastic when running with the ball (3054 yards in three seasons) and might be used in similar way to Percy Harvin, who played under Urban Meyer when he coached at Florida.