The Buckeyes have another QB of the future

7/1/2018
BY NICHOLAS PIOTROWICZ
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
  • Chaparral-High-football

    Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral High School QB Jack Miller throws while head coach Brent Barnes watches during a spring practice in May. Miller, a 2020 prospect, committed to Ohio State on Sunday.

    The Arizona Republic/Michael Chow

    • COLUMBUS — Ohio State has its answer at quarterback in the next two recruiting classes.

    The Buckeyes — fresh off luring 2019 quarterback Dwan Mathis to change his commitment from Michigan State to Ohio State — received good news in the 2020 class as well, as four-star Arizona prospect Jack Miller officially committed Sunday.

    Miller announced that he picked Ohio State against scholarship offers from 18 other schools, including Auburn, Louisiana State, Alabama, and Michigan, among others. 247Sports’ composite rankings list the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Miller as the fourth-best overall quarterback and the No. 47 player in his class.

    Ohio State and Miller had long been linked. Miller visited Ohio State camps twice in the past two years and made an unofficial visit to Columbus during the Buckeyes’ comeback victory against Penn State in October, 2017.

    The Buckeyes made Miller their top priority among 2020 quarterbacks, and Miller’s commitment seemed imminent after his visit for Ohio State’s “Friday Night Lights” camp for recruits on June 22, after which Miller told reporters, “I really love it here.”

    Miller said he considered Ohio State the favorite, and his last visit “really kind of cemented how great [OSU’s coaches] are and how much time they’re willing to spend with me and invest in me too.”

    This year’s Friday Night Lights event proved especially valuable for Ohio State’s future. Mathis, a four-star prospect from Belleville, Mich., was a visitor — which came as a surprise from a commit to Michigan State, which typically forbids its commits to make visits to other schools.

    Two days later, Mathis officially committed to Ohio State, solving the Buckeyes’ biggest problem in the class of 2019.

    Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has said in the past that it’s his preference to sign one quarterback in every class, and Miller now fills the role for the class of 2020.

    For the upcoming season, the Buckeyes have three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster — sophomore Dwayne Haskins, the presumed starter, along with redshirt freshman Tate Martell and true freshman Matthew Baldwin.

    Miller is one of four high school juniors who currently has pledged to Ohio State. He joins Georgia offensive tackle Jake Wray and Florida defensive back Lejond Cavazos, both four-star talents, and five-star Cincinnati offensive tackle Paris Johnson, Jr., who committed to Ohio State late Thursday night.

    Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 419-724-6110 or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz