Ohio State Football: Why Braxton Miller Will Be Better Than Terrelle Pryor

Terrelle Pryor's departure from Ohio State was not surprising given the controversy surrounding the former Buckeye star.

But his departure has opened up the door for his successor, and likely his better, freshman Braxton Miller.

Now while it is unfair to say that a freshman who has not played a college game in his life will be better than a three-year starter, the differences between the two are vast.

When you look at Braxton Miller, you look at a guy who seems like the complete package. He can run and cut on a dime and can throw the football with great velocity.

Some scouting reports have compared Miller to Donovan McNabb from his days at Syracuse in the late 1990s.

Pryor, on the other hand, always seemed like an athlete playing QB. Now granted, Pryor is a freak athlete with an unbelievable combination of size and speed.

While he could certainly use his athletic talents to make big plays and could occasionally throw a good ball, it was tough to see consistency from him as far as being comfortable throwing the ball.

Pryor also made plenty of head-scratching decisions such as oftentimes throwing the ball up into coverages.

For a guy of his talents, and there is plenty of talent there, that is really a confusing thing to see.

Miller, on the other hand, has looked pretty comfortable looking at his high school tapes. And the experience of starting four years at a Division I high school program in the state of Ohio, not to mention the cutthroat southwest area of the state, means he has gone up against far superior competition at that level than Pryor did.

While Miller, like most QBs, is prone to making mistakes, he has enough composure and mental toughness to shake it off and make some big plays.

Plus, if we learned nothing from the 2010 high school playoffs, Miller is quite the leader, taking his No. 8 seed Wayne High School team all the way to the state title game and losing by only one touchdown in the final minutes.

Given the turmoil around Ohio State and the fact that expectations are still unknown, Luke Fickell's smartest decision would be to let the young freshman take his lumps this season.

He has the running game which will let him settle in to his role and does have great footwork for being a true freshman, which for Pryor couldn't have been further from the truth.

Although Miller does not have the athleticism that Pryor has, his skill set for being a true QB is further along than Pryor's at that stage in his career.

If he can build off that and have a strong fall, the sky is the limit for Ohio State's next potential superstar at QB. And if he does it quick enough, Buckeye fans might soon forget about Pryor.

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