Braxton Miller Offers Intriguing Developmental QB Talent at NFL Level

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller took home the last two Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year awards, but now his 2014 season is over. Miller’s senior season has been cut short by an injury to the same shoulder that ended his 2013 season prematurely.
With Miller’s eligibility extinguished, barring his request for a redshirt year, what will the NFL find when it looks at the Buckeye passer?

First and foremost, is Miller an NFL-style quarterback?

The Ohio State system, made famous by Urban Meyer at Utah and Florida, asks the quarterback to be a heavy runner, and Miller has done that. In his three years as Ohio State’s starter, Miller ran the ball (557 times) almost as often as he passed it (666 attempts).

Meyer tells high school coaches in his clinics that the offense is a “two-back backfield,” and that’s true. Miller runs the ball as much as a tailback, and that will lean heavily on how NFL scouts view him.

In my conversations with three NFL team scouts in preparation for the article, not one told me they viewed Miller as a quarterback prospect for the NFL. A career as a running back or wide receiver is likelier, according to pro scouts.

What does the tape tell us, though? NFL scouts are a great resource, but that group also had members calling Robert Griffin III a wide receiver before his Heisman Trophy-winning junior season.

Accuracy

Evaluating a quarterback’s accuracy means more than just looking at the stats and seeing what his completion percentage…

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