He's Baaack!

[amajjd]

No doubt. Young man is a grinder and he's won lots of fans the way he's handled the situation. Strong liklihood he switches positions, in my opinion. Urban wants to maximize the number of weapons he has on the field. That means Braxton in space and one of the others calling plays.

Any word on how the WR position is shacking out? Kind of wonder how Smiths shoes get filled. Especially in deep ball situations.

 

[jwlcosu]

Any word on how the WR position is shacking out? Kind of wonder how Smiths shoes get filled. Especially in deep ball situations.

Michael Thomas will be the number one receiving option. Guys that will play opposite him include a mix of Corey Smith, Terry McClaurin and Jalin Marshall. All can fly but of the three, McClaurin is the speed merchant. Marshall moving to wideout, by the way, paves the way for Braxton's move to H-back.

Edit: Not to mention Johnnie Dixon and James Clark, each of whom is coming back healthy from medical redshirts. I hate to gush but the Buckeyes are so loaded it's just crazy.

Edit: Not to mention Noah Brown, Jeff Greene and Paris Campbell.

Pretty much every skill player on the roster is an NFL prospect. For that matter, pretty much every player at every postion is an NFL prospect.

 

[Michchamp]

... You can bet Urban will find ways to get the ball into his hands. ...

Sorry but this kind of reminds me of the stuff fans would say about RichRod & [insert name of ATH on Michigan's roster from '08-'10].

granted, you have more talent, and Meyer is a better coach, but still...

 

[TheVictors]

He's going to be Percy Harvin.

And from day one, each and every practice, BM is going to be part of a super tricky HB option for the game against 'TTUN' because of all tee-hee and hee hee.

 

[jwlcosu]

He's going to be Percy Harvin.

And from day one, each and every practice, BM is going to be part of a super tricky HB option for the game against 'TTUN' because of all tee-hee and hee hee.

So... can we assume you've been inhaling again?

 

[tomdalton22]

Just read that he is set to move to WR. Probably kick and punt returns as well. Punt returner is where I think he will be most dangerous.

 

[dubbsco]

Don't care how much of an elite athlete Braxton is, he's not going to suddenly be a world-class WR. He'll be okay. Players like him are a dime a dozen at the WR spot. Learning a whole new position is not easy. This has Devin Gardner written all over it.

 

[jwlcosu]

Don't care how much of an elite athlete Braxton is, he's not going to suddenly be a world-class WR. He'll be okay. Players like him are a dime a dozen at the WR spot. Learning a whole new position is not easy. This has Devin Gardner written all over it.

I get the sentiment but not the DG analogy. Braxton is a fast twitch guy that can take it to the end zone. Better analogy would be Denard.

 

[dubbsco]

Referring more to the position switch and how it was a lukewarm success at best, not about how they play. It's just hard to pull, no matter what. The guy's been taught the QB position forever now.

 

[Michchamp]

putting in a second QB to get the ball and do things with it always works great on paper, but harder than hell to execute during a game.

if anything seeing him on the field suddenly gets the defense paying more attention. it's the opposite effect you want when you're planning something tricky.

And how much time are you going to spend in practice on that?

If Miller essentially making a position switch to receiver, it's not a big deal. But if you think putting a second QB out there to get the ball and run/throw with it is a novel concept, well... there's a reason no one does that regularly.

 

[amajjd]

He's going to be Percy Harvin.

And from day one, each and every practice, BM is going to be part of a super tricky HB option for the game against 'TTUN' because of all tee-hee and hee hee.

He just needs to be Braxton Miller, that will be good enough.

 

[amajjd]

Don't care how much of an elite athlete Braxton is, he's not going to suddenly be a world-class WR. He'll be okay. Players like him are a dime a dozen at the WR spot. Learning a whole new position is not easy. This has Devin Gardner written all over it.

Top level athletes make changes like this and have very good success. I don't think he is winning the Biletnickoff or anything but moving him around and putting him in motion will be a mismatch a lot of the times. Especially if he's lined up v. OLB.

 

[dubbsco]

I would expect any good WR to be a mismatch versus a linebacker.

I'm sure he will be a very good WR. But it's not some revolutionary things that teams need to freak out about. There's not going to be all these trick magic double lateral plays with him out there.

 

[Spartanmack]

From an insider, Miller's throwing shoulder still isn't fully healed (and apparently he stayed because he is too dumb to learn a new, complicated offense like Oregon's). Bowing out of the QB competition was the smartest move he could make. He's the best athlete on the team and is going to be a deadly slot receiver maybe mix in some plays at TB or run the wildcat. They have 2 really good QBs, an awesome TB, a great deep threat receiver and now the best athlete on the field playing slot receiver and a solid if not great o-line. Expectations are high and anything can happen but I can't think of a team on their schedule they can't score 40+.

 

[amajjd]

(complicated offense like Oregon's).

This is news to me. No route tree, no audible, and really no complex language.
I think he loves being a buckeye and wants to win another title, but I could be wrong.

 

[jwlcosu]

From an insider, Miller's throwing shoulder still isn't fully healed (and apparently he stayed because he is too dumb to learn a new, complicated offense like Oregon's).

Is the insider saying Braxton is too dumb to manage Oregon's spread or is that your contribution? And why limit the conversation to Oregon? Braxton would have been welcome at dozens of places. Is he too dumb for those offenses too?

I don't have any insider scoop but its clear to me he stayed at OSU for positive reasons, not negative.

 

[jwlcosu]

Referring more to the position switch and how it was a lukewarm success at best, not about how they play. It's just hard to pull, no matter what. The guy's been taught the QB position forever now.

We'll know more in a few months but it stands that Braxton is way more athletic than Gardner. There's no comparison. And most think he'll play H-back, not pure WR. That means his touches will come at a much faster pace and in different situations than was the case when M experimented with Gardner. Braxton will be on the receiving end of jet sweeps, shovel passes, quick slants, quick pitches, wheel routes, misdirection plays, etc. When you think of those type of plays, Devin Gardner is not a player that leaps to mind. His problem at WR was that he had no ability to separate. That, and whoever was throwing the ball at the time.

 

[amajjd]

Not good seeing Bosa, Marshall, Wison, and Smith suspended for VT. I would hope that these guys would be smarter but if the reports are Bosa missed classes and the others were weed then I'm glad it's a major game but not major issues. A guy at work has been saying this is going to happen all week so it wasn't a huge surprise but it still stings.

I guess next man up will need to be the philosophy early this year.

 

[jwlcosu]

Not good seeing Bosa, Marshall, Wison, and Smith suspended for VT. I would hope that these guys would be smarter but if the reports are Bosa missed classes and the others were weed then I'm glad it's a major game but not major issues. A guy at work has been saying this is going to happen all week so it wasn't a huge surprise but it still stings.

I guess next man up will need to be the philosophy early this year.

Absolute knuckleheads for sure. Bosa is the number one impact guy but OSU is back to having a ton of impact players on defense and they won't miss a beat on that side of the ball. Guys that very few on this board have ever heard of are budding superstars and Va Tech is now their opportunity to break out. Remember the names: Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard, Jalyn Holmes, Darius Slade (MSU guys will recognize his name).

I'm more concerned about the offense. Losing Smith is not a big deal. I'm not 100% sure he was going to win a starting slot anyway. Losing one or the other, Marshall or Wilson, would not have been a problem. Losing both, however, is a big problem IMO.

Opening the season against Va Tech in Blacksburg was going to be tricky no matter what. It's now even more tricky. At the end of the day, however, what you can expect is for Urban to use the suspensions to get the most out of his squad not only on opening night, but throughout the season.

 

[jwlcosu]

Funny to re-read this thread. You know, with Braxton exploding and all. Some of you guys never tire of being wrong.

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2015/09/59026/welcome-to-braxton-miller-dot-com