Braxton Miller officially ended the speculation that he would be transferring this summer, reaffirming his commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes for his senior season in an interview with the Columbus Dispatch. His statements confirmed that he would be embracing the quarterback competition at Ohio State this fall and sticking with the program that he led so successfully before injuring his shoulder and missing the entire 2014 season. While many thought he would bolt Columbus for a guaranteed starting position, Miller ultimately made the right choice staying where he is at.

There is no denying the success that Miller has had at Ohio State. In three seasons, he has thrown for 5,292 yards, rushed for 3,054 yards, and scored 84 total touchdowns while winning back-to-back Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2012 and 2013. He was a heavy favorite in the Heisman Trophy race in 2014 before injuring his throwing shoulder in fall camp and undergoing a second surgery in under a year.

While he was gone, J.T. Barrett stepped in and broke Miller’s record for total offense before getting injured himself and Cardale Jones delivered big performances to close out the program’s national title run with wins in the Big Ten Championship over the Wisconsin Badgers and in the College Football Playoff against the Alabama Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks. The success of Miller’s backups fueled the speculation that he would take his talents elsewhere but in the end Ohio State is where Braxton Miller belongs.

Nobody is as comfortable with Miller’s talent than his current head coach Urban Meyer. He has been the man to unlock Miller’s considerable potential and turn him into one of college football’s premier athletes. Leaving Ohio State would have meant losing that connection and having to try and reforge it somewhere new in a very limited amount of time with a coach that may or may not know how to get the best out of Miller like Meyer can.

If he had left for a “guaranteed” starting job, Miller would have also taken on a tremendous amount of pressure to perform at a high level right out of the gate. That would have been challenging not only because he would face learning a new offense with new talent around him that he didn’t have a rapport with but also because Miller is recovering from multiple shoulder surgeries (which he is still not 100 percent back from) and knocking off the rust of missing an entire season of football. The level of expectations would have been a near impossible bar for Miller to clear and he could have suffered a major disappointment.

At Ohio State, he can work his way back to 100 percent in an environment and with teammates that he’s comfortable with while being just a part of what looks to be a hyper-talented offensive group for the Buckeyes this season. Meyer has experience utilizing multiple quarterbacks in his offense and has a penchant for putting premier athletes into a position to contribute, one way or another. This creates a comfort-level for Miller that will help not only in his recovery process but also in his ability to find success in 2015.

Even though it makes for a far less exciting narrative, Braxton Miller made the right choice to stay at Ohio State for his final year of eligibility. Now, the question this fall will be where he fits into the offensive attack and the quarterback depth chart moving forward for the Buckeyes.

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