Urban Meyer "expects" Braxton Miller to return to Ohio State -- and so should you

Social media has recently been lit up with chatter about college football's biggest would-be "free agent", Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller. Miller's name has recently been floated as a possible transfer candidate to Duke, to Florida State, Kentucky, and the popular choice, Oregon. But is that actually likely? Today, Urban Meyer was asked about Miller, and he said that he "expects" Miller to return to Ohio State.

We agree.

Let's consider the facts: First, Braxton Miller is hurt, and has no chance to physically participate in any team's spring game or camp. Miller could even potentially miss a lot of practice in the summer, depending on how he heals.

Missing that amount of time is not a trivial matter for a quarterback, and having to learn an entirely new playbook on top of that could seriously limit his potential effectiveness. Miller isn't going to subject his body to additional punishment, risk further injury or anything else unless he knows he's going to be very successful on the field, and his best chance to do so is at Ohio State, where he's already very familiar with the playbook, and his personnel.

Second, just about every person claiming that Miller is looking elsewhere comes from outside Ohio State, or Miller's inner circle. Typically, when a player is thinking about transferring, there is some sort of smoke, from beat writers, from established blogs, from people close to the player, etc. We've heard nothing to indicate that Miller is looking to leave. Recently, his father said he wants to stay at Ohio State. We don't have any reason to not believe him. That isn't to say that these other reporters are making stuff up or anything, just that perhaps their sources are not the most informed.

Finally, it seems like a lot of folks are completely writing off Miller's chances of starting next year at Ohio State. That seems premature. Miller has never played with a cadre of wideouts and skill position weapons as strong as the unit Barrett enjoyed this season, and his athletic gifts still surpass those of any would be challenger for the starting job. He's a defending Big Ten offensive player of the year. If he stays, he could (perhaps he'd even be the favorite) grab the starting gig right back.

Braxton has already graduated from Ohio State, and could theoretically transfer late into the offseason and play right away. The deadline to declare for the NFL Draft, however, is Jan. 15. We may not know if Miller is going to 100% stay at Ohio State until later in the offseason, at his least his intention to play another year of college football will be known soon enough.

Miller has a child, he's an Ohio native, and a bit of a homebody. Given all of that, his football situation, and what others close to him and the program have been saying, we have to agree with Urban's assessment. If he doesn't enter the NFL Draft, we expect Braxton Miller to come back to Ohio State as well.