“I’ll let Coach Beck know that”.
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The Ohio State Buckeyes have officially reported to training camp this week, which means that now we can all really start talking about the 800-pound elephant in the room: Who is the quarterback going to be? Jones won it after choosing heads.
Practice could begin. The circus was under way.
Jones took the first snap during live drills, but he and Barrett shared the repetitions with the starters.
Meyer told reporters after practice that he expects the quarterback snaps to be 50/50 and both Barrett and Jones were fine after day one.
Barrett, for the record, will take the first snap today.
It worked. It took a broken ankle to get him out of there. It’s a great problem to have if you’re a head coach: Your pick of two excellent quarterbacks. Barrett, of course, beat Jones, then hurtled into the starting role after Miller tore his labrum 10 days before the start of the season.
That’s when Barrett stepped to the fore last August. I was thinking too much, and if he made a good play, I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to do this.
For months, speculation of who will be under center for the Buckeyes has been the topic of discussion, and OSU coach Urban Meyer said on Monday he is still not leaning in either direction as to who will be starting September 7 in Blacksburg, Va. “That’s why it can’t be a knee-jerk reaction”. “After 28, 29 practices that we’re going to have going into the first game [at Virginia Tech], there will be a frontrunner”. The loss of Joey Bosa, last year’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, doesn’t make the test any easier.
His concern over Jones and Barrett splitting snaps so deep into camp is offset by their experience.
“It’s a little different because they are both established guys”, Meyer said. “Cardale’s been here a long time now – what’s it, his eighth year here?” If me and J.T. didn’t like each other, I would still compete with him.
We won’t announce anything until the first guy takes the field against Virginia Tech. Had he been healthy for the entire campaign, he would have entered the NFL draft, but is now a wide receiver on the team. Even if Miller feels more confident in his shoulder midway through the season, I can’t see Urban Meyer switching things up without his hand being forced. I just wasn’t prepared.
The early returns were mixed.
With that reminder, I gave Jones 13 more percentage points than last time, when I had Barrett with an 80-20 edge. Why?
But just like the quarterback sweepstakes, Miller still has a ways to go. But just like how the Buckeyes cleared up that first question, the race remains a 50-50 proposition with plenty of practices ahead of Jones and J.T. Barrett and no rush for the program to declare a victor.
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But the approach has to be play to play, he said, with the idea of showing consistency and leadership. It’s understanding the depth of routes, getting in and out of breaks…
