We’re a week away from the College Football Playoff’s first release and the question our Advance media group addressed this week relates to the most problematic team to judge among the unbeaten elite: What do you do with Ohio State? Should you rank them solely on their entire-season body of work? Or do you take into account how dramatically better they look since Urban Meyer made the switch at quarterback from Cardale Jones to J.T. Barrett? I said all along that, in Meyer’s offense, Jones makes the most sense because his fortress of a 6-5, 250-pound physique can ward off the dings and dents of dozens of crashes absorbed in the spread option better than Barrett’s. I always believed Barrett was the better complete quarterback and the only one among the trio including Braxton Miller who has a shot at the NFL. I just didn’t think he could take the pounding of 15 designed runs a game, many in the A gaps, and believed he should transfer someplace where he could learn pro-style quarterbacking. Well, that Professor Meyer may have outsmarted us all. It’s occurred to me that maybe he designed the QB “competition” this way all along. He took a look at the first half of the season, saw absolutely nothing that could derail his Buckeyes and decided to play Jones, knowing it would give Barrett a break from wear and tear. If Jones performed well, he’d stay in. If not, he could bring Barrett off the bench in the season’s second half and have a fresh body leading his team for the big push…
Continue Reading: Ohio State must ascend to top of FWAA Super 16 Poll with JT Barrett’s reemergence
