Former Ohio State Heisman-winning quarterback Troy Smith agrees with current Ohio State coach Urban Meyer: Buckeyes quarterback Braxton Miller should remain in school for his senior season.
Meyer has said that while Miller has the necessary skill set, he doesn't think Miller is ready for the NFL yet. Smith told FoxSportsOhio.com that if he were asked, he would tell Miller to stay at Ohio State for one more year. He used an interesting metaphor, to say the least, calling the decision "a closed casket-type deal."
"When you make that leap, you want it to be a shoo-in," Smith said. "No type of gray area whatsoever, no wondering what might have [been]. If I was Braxton, I would pound the playbook, pound the playbook, pound the playbook and try to be the top quarterback when he comes out, be the best he can be.
"I wouldn't want to be the second guy, the third guy, anywhere but in the best position he can be. And he has the talent to eventually be in that spot."
Smith has a point. The quarterback crop in the 2014 NFL Draft is likely to be as deep as it has been in a long while -- hearkening to the days of 1983, perhaps. That's when a record six quarterbacks were taken in the first round. Miller likely wouldn't be considered a top-10 quarterback in this draft cycle.
Smith won the Heisman at Ohio State in 2006. He was a fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the '07 draft and played 14 games in three seasons with the Ravens. He played for San Francisco in 2010 and now plays for Montreal in the CFL. Smith started seven games in his NFL career.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.