Ohio State Football 2011: Can Braxton Miller Replicate Terrell Pryor's Success?

It may not happen this year, but Braxton Miller will eventually be the quarterback for Ohio State University.

The freshman phenom came in during the spring and has worked his way up the depth chart to the point where he is now squarely in competition with fifth-year senior Joe Bauserman.

Miller was the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school and has been improving at a rapid rate. While he may not start the season, he could very well finish it.

But the question for Ohio State fans is whether or not he can win football games. The next question they want answered is whether he can replace Terrelle Pryor—who was just drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the NFL supplemental draft—in their minds.

The short answer is yes, but the long answer is more complicated.

When Pryor came to OSU in 2008, he played immediately and led the Buckeyes to a 10-3 record and a close loss to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. But when he did it, he had Beanie Wells behind him. Braxton Miller currently has someone not named Dan Herron behind him.

In 2009 and 2010, Pryor led his team to consecutive BCS bowl wins. But when he did it, he had Devier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher catching the football. Miller currently has a bunch of players no one knows and he won’t be in sync with Devier Posey because of his suspension.

But just because it may not happen this season, doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Give this team a year or even just a spring and summer to mature with Miller and things will be running like nothing ever happened.

He is just that talented and is miles ahead of Pryor in terms of actually throwing the football. Check out his sophomore year highlight reel on the right if you don’t believe it.

At the minimum, don’t expect him to redshirt this season, even if he starts out redshirted. The Buckeyes will need a mobile quarterback against a stout Michigan State defensive line and left tackle Mike Adams won’t be back in time for that game.

It would be nothing short of a miracle if Braxton Miller would come all the way from fourth on the depth chart to start and lead his team to a BCS bowl game as a freshman.

No one expects him to and no one should, but if there is a freshman quarterback who could do it, it’d be Miller. Unfortunately for Buckeye fans, football is a team sport and the rest of the team is simply not prepared enough to get there.

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