The Under-the-Radar Heisman Trophy Favorite

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If the bizarre nature of Ohio State's upcoming season hadn't set in yet, it was impossible to avoid at the Buckeyes' annual media day on Sunday.

With tables spread across the practice field of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, reporters scattered about to prepare to meet with members of the Ohio State roster.

At the table marked for Braxton Miller, media members waited for the tardy quarterback-turned-wideout, willfully ignoring the players who had made their way to media day on time. If a reporter wasn't at Miller's table, it was a safe bet he or she could be found talking to either Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett, the headliners of the most-talked-about quarterback competition in college football.

But while Miller was swarmed like a Kardashian on Rodeo Drive and Jones and Barrett answered the same questions that they have been since co-piloting the Buckeyes' run to the national championship last season, perhaps the most important member of the OSU roster went undetected as he made his way to his table.

As he began his interview session, no more than four of the 100 reporters in attendance surrounded Ezekiel Elliott, the rare front-runner for the Heisman Trophy who has somehow found himself flying under the radar this offseason.

"It's something I don't really pay attention to," Elliott said of the attention that's been paid to his teammates. "We take a team mentality. We just want to see each other shine."

That may be the case, but it doesn't make the situation Elliott finds himself in any less unique. Through the first week-and-a-half of Ohio State's fall camp, both media and fans have found themselves discussing the Buckeyes' quarterback conundrum and Miller the most, with Elliott falling somewhere between Ohio State's newest freshmen and the race to replace suspended star defensive end Joey Bosa for the season opener.

That's not to say that Elliott has been an enigma, however, as ESPN's E:60 documentary, The Rise of Ezekiel Elliott, showed Tuesday night. Chronicling the St. Louis, Missouri, native's childhood, decision to come to Columbus and breakout sophomore season, the documentary showed a side of Elliott that fans may have not otherwise been aware of.

It also thrust Elliott back into the same national spotlight that he occupied in January while carrying the Buckeyes to the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship.

"It was a little bit different. I can't say I didn't like it," Elliott said of having a documentary crew following his life. "After a while, it got a little over the top."

Over-the-top coverage is what some may have expected for Elliott this offseason after the way he burst onto the national scene with a combined 696 yards and eight touchdowns in the Buckeyes' three postseason games at the end of last year. In football-crazed Columbus, there's no bigger celebrity than a star Ohio State football player, and in January, there was no bigger star on the Buckeyes roster than Elliott.

And although the Sugar Bowl and national title game MVP still can't leave his apartment without having to stop to pose for pictures with fans, the offseason attention he's received has hardly been proportionate for a player who is currently the co-favorite, along with TCU's Trevone Boykin, to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy, per Oddschecker.

One reason that may be is because Elliott is the one known commodity on a team otherwise lacking in that category. Yes, Las Vegas favors Ohio State to repeat as college football's champion, but how the Buckeyes will go about doing so remains unclear.

Paul Vernon/Associated Press

That, of course, starts with the rare quarterback competition between two qualified candidates, who have now each been dissected by fans and media alike for the past eight months. But the attention the battle between Jones and Barrett has received has actually been somewhat justified, considering that the winner will instantly become a Heisman Trophy contender in his own right.

What hasn't been quite as reasonable is the spotlight that's been placed on Miller's move to wide receiver, which was the subject of the first clip released from the Big Ten Network's upcoming Scarlet and Gray Days series.

Yes, Miller is an established name in the college football landscape, a two-time Big Ten MVP with two top-10 Heisman Trophy finishes on his resume. And sports fans have always been in love with the transaction, whether it be a trade, a recruiting commitment or, in this case, a position change

But Miller has yet to play an official down at his new spot, and even Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer has been doing his best to temper expectations for Miller's new role.

"As a quarterback, you don't run [in practice]. You run for maybe four or five minutes at practice, and you're doing other things," Meyer said Sunday. "This is a big week for him."

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Nevertheless, images of Miller lining up beside Jones in the Buckeyes backfield for a speed option in practice last week sent fans into a tizzy, as it at one time had seemed like something only possible in a video game.

But for as exciting and new as Miller lining up as the player receiving a pitch instead of giving it may seem, it's worth remembering that the Buckeyes already possess arguably the best running back—if not player—in the entire country in Elliott. He may not be switching positions or numbers this offseason, but Elliott's historic production at the end of last season should have warranted more hype for 2015 than it's received in the past eight months.

With the start of the 2015 season, however, now less than three weeks away, all of the talk about position battles, new jersey numbers, role reversals and Heisman hype will be rendered irrelevant soon enough. All that will matter is the production that's put out on the field as Ohio State attempts to win its second consecutive national title.

And if Elliott's production is anywhere close to what it was when the Buckeyes captured college football's crown last January, there's little doubt over who Ohio State's most-talked-about player will be.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.