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 the situation, the Buckeyes’ star-studded three-man competition hasn’t gotten any easier to digest. The latest reminder of the absurdity that 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 each 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. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State’s Domination of Maxwell Watch List Shows Potential for Historic Run
