Despite His Flaws, JT Barrett is Underrated

Okay….I’ve seen the tweets and it is very clear that we need to talk about Mr. J.T. Barrett. But, if we’re going to talk about one of the statistically best QB’s of all time, it’s very vital that we look at all the facts. So let’s go ahead and jump right into this one.

J.T. Barrett is not a bad quarterback and he certainly does not suck at playing this position.

Barrett finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in the 2014 season. He won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football in 2016. He’s a two-time Big Ten Quarterback of the Year (2014 and 2016). Hell, he even was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after he dismantled the Indiana defense for a solid win this year!

The all-time Ohio State career touchdown record? J.T. Barrett holds that. All-time Ohio State career leader in passing touchdowns? That’d be J.T. Barrett. All-time Ohio State career leader in total offense? Most touchdowns in a season? Most touchdowns in a GAME? Most career passing yards? Most total offense in a season? Most passing touchdowns in a season? Most touchdowns in a game? Barrett holds all of those records. At THE Ohio State University, all these records are truly amazing to behold.

Over the past five games, Barrett is 99-of-137 for 1,351 yards, 18 touchdowns, and no interceptions. You could absolutely argue that Ohio State hasn’t really played anyone with a legitimate defense over those five games, but the efficiency is still there regardless. The big test will be next week when the Buckeyes host Penn State, but if Ohio State wins out for the rest of the season, Barrett will have amassed a 29-2 record in conference play alone.

Literally, by every statistical measure and hell, by the team success measure, J.T. Barrett is no doubt one of the best Ohio State quarterbacks of all time, if not one of the best Big Ten quarterbacks of all time, and I ain’t bluffing on this one. Yes, that’s right, sit down Drew Brees! Players who suck, and I mean ones who are complete garbage as people on the interwebs claim J.T. to be, and do not achieve these such distinctions. Do you want to see an Ohio State quarterback that sucked? Go watch some tape of Joe Bauserman or Steve Bellisari. They sucked. J.T. Barrett clearly does not.

Okay, are we all good on what was said? Solid. Now we can talk about the other stuff.

Barrett is very good at a few specific things. He’s the ONLY three-time captain in Ohio State football history. So his leadership skills and standing with his peers are clearly beyond the time of arguing with someone. That’s very important in a quarterback if you want to lead on and off the field.

JT, while not blessed with the raw speed or quickness of Braxton Miller or Terrelle Pryor, is an effective option in the run game. He makes good decisions with the read option and can dump it off if need be. He has great awareness on the field, is strong enough to run through some guys, and is very good in the option. He also makes good decisions with the football, throwing THREE times as many touchdowns as interceptions.

You can run a very good and effective offense with that kind of QB. In fact, Ohio State has done just that for much of the Barrett era. With the powerful interior run game and playmakers on the outside, both of which the Buckeyes possess, they can kill you with a million paper-cuts. They are smart enough to know that their talent advantage will eventually pound you down, open one of those paper-cuts up, and turn it into a nasty gash that bleeds you out.

Ohio State hasn’t had a deep passing attack, and Barrett is part of that problem

Barrett has an arm, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t have one like Mason Rudolph, Josh Allen, or Josh Rosen do. He doesn’t sling balls around fast as heck and doesn’t have the deep-ball range like most QB’s do. He is also very guilty at times of holding onto the ball for too long, although sometimes offensive line doesn’t help with that. Dropping back in the pocket, throwing around 43 passes a game, and trying to burn defenses on every play is just not what he’s really good at. Without doing that in-game, and with defenses putting more and more men in the box, it makes Ohio State’s shorter throws more difficult and less efficient. The Buckeye offense has looked worse and worse (against better teams) and as a Buckeye fan, I’m not afraid to admit that.

It’s a total team effort, and it’s clear that the failures of Ohio State’s deep game aren’t limited to just Barrett’s ball delivery. Wideouts are failing to get open, and even when they do, they’re often not catching the dang ball (deep ball touchdowns were dropped against Indiana and Oklahoma, for example). The offensive line, especially Isaiah Prince, has occasionally struggled in pass protection. He simply never comes off the ball well and has a hard time blocking. And yes, occasionally Barrett hasn’t placed the pigskin where it should be. A QB that does not have trust or rhythm with wideouts will be more prone to making mechanical errors in his delivery. To most people, that’s a total offensive failure, and it’s why Ohio State made significant coaching changes on offense over the offseason. After a couple games, those issues have started to repair themselves.

I could go on and on about J.T. and all his records all day, or I could even take the other road where I can talk about how he underperforms against better teams, but I am simply not going to sit here and do that because I feel like I don’t need too. Look at his stats, look at his record. As a fan, I can proudly say he is one of the best statistical quarterbacks in college football I have seen in a while. It blows my mind when people say Barrett isn’t good becuase that both difficult to prove and simply not true. The fact that maybe 6/10 times he will underperform against a quality team doesn’t mean he’s bad. He is one of the best QB’s to ever put on the scarlet and grey and has almost every offensive record there is. That is kinda hard to do! Regardless, Barrett is a solid QB, and one of the best to ever play the game to date.