Ohio State, a place where dual-threat Quarterbacks have thrived, particularly under the leadership of Urban Meyer.
J.T. Barrett, Braxton Miller, Terrelle Pryor and even Troy Smith possessed the athleticism to threaten defenses with their legs under Meyer, Jim Tressel, and Luke Fickell.
Conversely, all of the previous Quarterback “eras” also had more traditional pocket passers as back-ups. Most recent being Cardale Jones for J.T. Barrett. But Braxton Miller had Joe Bauserman, Terrelle Pryor had Todd Boeckman, and Troy Smith had Justin Zwick.
With the Read Option being the staple of the Ohio State offense, pocket passers have not always been afforded the opportunity to thrive in the past 15 years. One could argue that some of the more frustrating losses over those past 15 years have been with a traditional Quarterback behind Center.
Only the “Thrillogy” (books still available) of Cardale Jones and Troy Smith’s Heisman season of 2006 saw the Buckeyes be an offensive juggernaut with a pocket passer.
Which brings us to the present day.
Battling with pocket passer Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow entered Spring practice with an equal opportunity at winning the starting quarterback job, and after an impressive Spring Game has made the impending decision that much more difficult for the coaching staff.
Burrow showed the ability to carry out the offense Buckeye fans have come to know best following the run of J.T. Barrett. His ability to run puts the defense a half step behind as it accounts for the legitimate option of a Quarterback run.
Burrow also showed excellent poise when the pocket got messy and was able to maintain good mechanics to deliver an accurate throw. The calmness he possesses in the pocket allows him to manipulate the defenders to make up for his lack of comparative arm strength to that of Dwayne Haskins.
With the departure of leadership from J.T. Barrett, Joe Burrow has shown the ability to be a leader of men as well as the ability to maintain a level of calmness when on the field. Urban Meyer has proven to be a creature of habit, yet also reward the hard work and time spent in the program by his veteran players.
In the breakdown below, Joe Burrow displays the key traits worthy of the starting position as well as a sense of familiarity to Urban Meyer, and history has proven this to be the most effective way towards winning football games.
Taken from the article on this site about Master Teague, think it applies to Joe as well…
“Looking good in a spring game that was more glitz than guts can skew opinions from the onlookers. ”
The primary argument for going with Burrow is he is better suited to rush the football and execute our base play which is the QB Power Dive… time this offense and scheme gets a bit more sophisticated. I think Clemson clearly demonstrated what an elite defense will do to that scheme now.
You: Joe Burrow has shown the ability to be a leader of men as well as the ability to maintain a level of calmness when on the field.
Me: Who was the quarterback that led us to the victory over Michigan?
I will argue that unlike some years our running game is incredibly gifted. In another article it was mentioned how no QB at tOSU has made it through the entire season. Well, this is the time to use the RB position more and have a true thrower back in the pocket. The losses we have suffered the last couple of years were in part due to not giving the ball to our talented RB’s and over using the QB.
And not having a QB that could make the quick reads and execute the quick accurate releases. This caused the defense to put up to 10 men in the box and make running extremely difficult. This is why JB is the best choice for QB this year displays a better touch and looks much more comfortable than Haskins on the short pass plays. JB can also run when he has to.
Based on? Prior to the Spring Game he’s not seen action in quite some time. Maybe I’m getting old and losing a bit of short term memory but I can’t recall who he passed to, the distance of the throws, if he made the proper reads, etc.
Amen. Will never forget the way Urban used EzE A few years back in that loss to Sparty. Or how bout the time, Braxton kept it against Sparty instead of pitching the ball to Carlos Hyde.
You have to be able to play power football. This could be the greatest collection of running talent we’ve ever had: Dobbins, Weber and RunDMC, also known as Demario McCall