Ohio State's Domination of Maxwell Watch List Shows Potential for Historic Run
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ever since Cardale Jones led Ohio State on an improbable run through the first-ever College Football Playoff last January, we've known that an unprecedented quarterback conundrum was brewing in Columbus.
But even after having spent the past six months chewing on the situation, the Buckeyes' star-studded three-man competition hasn't gotten any easier to digest.
The latest reminder of the absurdity that is Ohio State's upcoming quarterback derby came in the form of Tuesday's release of the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to college football's best player.
While a few schools—Penn State, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida State, Arizona State, Tennessee, Stanford and Auburn—possessed two players on the list and TCU laid claim to three, no program was as well-represented as the Buckeyes, who had four individual players named to the list.
More astonishingly, of Ohio State's four representatives, three happen to play the same position. And the presence of Jones, J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller on the same preseason watch list looked just as ridiculous in reality as it would have in theory six months ago.
"It's unique. At that position, I've never had it like that," Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said in the spring of his impending quarterback predicament. "I've never been in this situation."
That's not to say Jones, Barrett and Miller all aren't deserving of the preseason accolades they're already receiving. Despite the fact that only one of them will be named Ohio State's starter when the Buckeyes' national championship defense begins in two months, all three signal-callers have already built their own distinct resumes that would make them the undisputed top option at quarterback on almost every other team in the nation.
A year ago, that sentiment certainly rang true for Miller, whose starting status was never in jeopardy until a preseason shoulder injury ended his 2014 season before it ever started. The Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013, Miller is expected to discuss his immediate future in the coming days, according to Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch. Joe Schad of ESPN reported that Miller will stay at Ohio State rather than taking advantage of his ability as a graduate transfer.
Whether the versatile Miller will return to Columbus as a quarterback or playing a different position remains to be seen, but all indications are that he will indeed be making a return to the field for the Buckeyes this fall in one form or another.
“The only thing that's different is Braxton is pretty close to full speed,” Meyer said of his quarterback situation after his annual youth camp in Geneva, Ohio, last week. “J.T., I'd probably say, is 95 percent. That was the biggest thing, to get them all healthy and get them ready to go.”
Barrett may only be at 95 percent, according to Meyer, but the reigning Big Ten Quarterback and Freshman of the Year has looked pretty close to full strength while spending his week as a counselor at the Nike Elite 11 camp in Beaverton, Oregon.
After a broken ankle in the Buckeyes' regular-season finale brought his record-breaking debut season to an end, Barrett found himself ahead of schedule during spring practice and appeared good to go, according to those who have watched him throw passes this week.
“He’s doing more than I thought,” Meyer said of Barrett following Ohio State's fourth spring practice.
Should Meyer run statistical-based competition as he claimed he would in the spring, Barrett could have the inside track to the Buckeyes' coveted starting job.
But then again, there's a reason why many consider Jones to be the front-runner following January's historic run.
After entering the season as Ohio State's third-string quarterback, the 6'5", 250-pound Jones heard his number called when the lights in college football shined the brightest. Filling in for Barrett as the Buckeyes' starter in the Big Ten Championship Game, Jones earned MVP honors as he led OSU to a 59-0 walloping of Wisconsin, clinching his team's spot in the College Football Playoff in the process.
The legend of Jones, however, was just getting started.
Reeling off wins over Alabama and Oregon to capture the college football crown, the Buckeyes almost avoided dealing with a three-man competition as Jones considered entering the NFL draft. With just three starts under his belt, the Cleveland native ultimately opted to return to OSU for his junior season, which only set the table for him to become the offseason face of the Buckeyes program.
Despite also possessing the physical tools that have draft analysts projecting him to be a first-round pick in 2016, it's going to take more than magazine covers and first pitches for Jones to reclaim his starting status. After failing to secure the starting job when he was receiving the bulk of Ohio State's first-team reps in the spring, Jones will now have to fight off both Barrett and Miller, each of whom possesses his own rights to the Buckeyes' starting gig.
But regardless of whether it's Jones, Barrett or Miller who ultimately earns the job in August, Ohio State knows that it will have a Maxwell Award candidate behind center—an unprecedented proposition for a three-man competition.
And then there's that fourth Buckeye listed on the Maxwell Award watch list: running back Ezekiel Elliott, who at 7-1 currently possesses the second-best odds in the country to win the Heisman Trophy, according to Odds Shark.
The junior running back rushed for a combined 696 yards and eight touchdowns in Ohio State's three postseason games and is the best bet on the Buckeyes roster—if not the entire country—to walk away with the Maxwell Award.
Add in that both defensive end Joey Bosa and linebacker Joshua Perry were named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, presented annually to the nation's best defender, and Ohio State's abundance of talent for the upcoming season is more than apparent.
Returning 14 combined starters on offense and defense from a national title team will always have its benefits, but rarely has a group possessed the upside that the Buckeyes appear to have two months away from the start of the season.
"I think we'll be very good," Meyer said the morning after the national title game. "The word, 'repeat,' we'll have that conversation, certainly not today. It's about enjoying it."
That conversation, however, is soon approaching. And if preseason watch lists are any indication, the Buckeyes appear well-equipped to handle it.
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.
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