Coming into this college football season expectations for Braxton Miller and THE Ohio State Buckeyes were through the roof. After leading the Buckeyes to a 12-0 record last season many speculated that Miller was a legit Heisman Trophy Candidate, and the Buckeyes had a chance of dethroning Alabama for the National Championship.
The expectations are right on par, minus the Heisman Trophy. Miller missed three games due a knee injury, which took him out of the running for the award, but the Buckeyes are ranked No.4 in the country, and will need some outside help to get a National Championship berth. On September 7th, 2013 Braxton Miller suffered a MCL Sprain against San Diego State that changed his season for the better.
Prior to the injury, Miller was an athlete playing at the quarterback position.
Despite Miller’s steady improvement at the QB position his fundamentals and mechanics were a little off. When a blitz chaos collapsed the pocket Braxton would do what he use to do best, and that was RUN. While Miller was out his backup quarterback Kenny Guiton threw for thirteen touchdowns in three games, and caused speculation of a possible Quarterback controversy.
Since Braxton Miller (minus the Northwestern game) has returned from injury he has been a totally different quarterback that we have been used to seeing. The evolution of Braxton Miller form into a legit quarterback has been a sight to see.
From a numbers standpoint his quarterback percentage jumped nearly 14 percentage points from last season (from 58.3% to 72.5%).
Miller’s jump in production has a lot to do with him understanding the playbook, and opposing defenses a lot better than previous years, and also gaining trust in his teammates. There are times this season where Braxton will hang in the pocket a second longer, due to having trust in his offensive line, and there are times where will scramble out of the pocket to hit an open receiver instead of trying to make the play himself.
If you were to say that Braxton Miller was ranked in fourth in completion percentage and seventh in passing efficiency many would look at you crazy.
Sometimes an injury can be the best and worst for you at times. In Braxton’s case I think his injured knee helped him focus on being a complete quarterback that had to trust his progressions and reads rather than taking off when things got bad.
We all know that Braxton can run with the best of them, but now he is more of a lethal threat, because of his progression as a passer.
Miller has thrown for 13 touchdowns since returning from injury versus 2 interceptions. Due to Miller missing three games, he will not have eye-popping numbers due compared to guys like Jameis Winston, Johnny Football, and Marcus Mariotta, but he can now be looked as a quarterback with athletic abilities rather than being an athlete playing quarterback.
Working out with quarterback guru George Whitfield, injuring his MCL, having a better grasp on the offense, and the improvement of the guys on offense has helped Braxton Miller out mightily.
With the Buckeyes making a prime run to the National Championship game look for Braxton to take his game to another level.
Now, that he has trust in his arm and his instincts as a quarterback, and his knee is fully healed the only person that can stop No.5 is Braxton Miller himself.
