Ohio State Football: Summarizing Braxton Miller's Responsibilities in the Spread

Braxton Miller had quite an intriguing freshman season last year at Ohio State and should take significant steps in his sophomore year as the starting quarterback.

The biggest reason for the likely improvement is that Miller will move into the spread offense run by Urban Meyer and Tom Herman.

Miller should be very comfortable with his new offense because it is very much like the offense he ran in high school in Huber Heights, Ohio.

But this is another level, and it means more responsibilities for Miller in this offense.

Here are his new responsibilities as the QB in the Meyer offense.

Execute the Zone Read

More and more in the modern college offense, the zone read has become the backbone of most prolific spread offenses. At Oregon, in fact, the zone read has been raised to an art form.

Ohio State's offense will run more of a power-oriented zone read, going to the inside zone and using their power backs like Carlos Hyde and Rod Smith.

Miller will have to learn quickly to make the right read in the zone game more times than not.

If he can figure out how to make the right read and be effective at doing so, the running game becomes that much better, especially with Miller's running ability.

Control the Tempo

Using another spread team as an example, Ohio State's spread game, much like Oklahoma State's, will be a high-tempo attack.

As we saw in the spring game in April, Ohio State will move at a much quicker, no-huddle pace to try to force mismatches and create all sorts of advantages for themselves.

Miller will need to be the guy to control the pulse of this tempo.

He will be asked to get his guys lined up quickly, while relaying the play call from the sidelines and getting it to his teammates.

A lot of responsibility but he can give his team a huge advantage by doing it correctly and efficiently.

Get the Ball to the Playmakers in Space

Arguably one of the most dangerous players in the history of the spread offense was Florida's do-it-all man, Percy Harvin.

Ohio State doesn't have a playmaker like Harvin, but they have guys that do have the ability to make plays if you get them in open space.

That's something the Ohio State offense of the past 10 years almost never did, as Jim Tressel seemed to slot receivers into concrete roles. It did work out sometimes when you look at players like Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn, Jr.

Nowadays, it's about giving the receiver the ability to make plays. And that starts from Miller being able to get them the ball in the right spot so that they can still be at full speed when they get the ball.

Use Your Feet as a Weapon

Braxton Miller showed as a freshman that he can be a deadly weapon with his feet, and will need to do so even more this season.

This new offense is more run-oriented than people might think, and that will have to start at the quarterback position.

Tim Tebow was never afraid to run, and Braxton Miller shouldn't be either.

Miller is already an elite-level runner with great elusiveness and vision.

As he adjusts even more to the speed of the game, he will be a much deadlier dual-threat QB.

Continue to Be a Finisher

Braxton Miller has limited experience as a starter, but he has already shown that he is not afraid to make big plays at the end of the game.

Terrelle Pryor never really made those types of plays consistently, but Miller has done it several times, including throwing a touchdown against Purdue in the final minute of play to send the game into overtime.

But all Ohio State fans remember his tremendous touchdown toss to Devin Smith with less than a minute to go to finish off an upset over Wisconsin.

That play alone is something special, but Miller's killer instinct will be an asset he will use even more in this offense.

He will have the ability to put up enormous numbers, but will have to continue to get better at finishing drives in the end zone.

Miller is off to a very good start in that regard though.

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