[Fuller]
ESPN's Brett McMurphy is reporting that Ohio State's Braxton Miller, who multiple outlets confirmed reinjured his right (throwing) shoulder at practice yesterday afternoon, is out for the 2014 season.
Ohio State QB Braxton Miller is out for the season, a source told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) August 19, 2014
NFL.com senior writer Gil Brandt said earlier today that OSU was "expecting" Miller to miss the season, and official word on the matter should come out later today. A Columbus television outlet confirms McMurphy's report, as well. Since last night, Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch—the first reporter to break news of the injury—filled in some details of how the injury occurred:
Neither a team spokesman nor coach Urban Meyer would confirm the news, but sources said that Miller, who had been considered a strong candidate for the Heisman Trophy, suffered the injury while throwing a routine pass. He was not hit, having been off-limits from contact since off-season shoulder surgery.
Miller underwent an MRI this morning, the details of which have yet to be released. There's still no official word from Ohio State.
Before anything else, let me express my deepest sympathies for Miller; he not only faces what appears to be a tough recovery—if he injured the shoulder without any contact, it's likely his injury suffered against Clemson in January never fully healed in the first place—but he's in a very tough spot regarding his pro future.
Miller could take a redshirt and come back in 2015, but there were already serious questions about whether he could be a quarterback at the NFL level; if his best chance to make it is at running back or wide receiver, he's lost a critical year of development and faces a difficult choice: come back to school and take another year of punishment as OSU's QB, or go pro despite coming off a season lost to injury. Here's hoping he fully recovers his past form; he's a truly spectacular player to watch, and college football will be worse off this year without him.
As for the on-field ramifications, Ohio State looks like they'll enter the season with a redshirt freshman starting in Miller's place:
If Miller misses time, redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett currently leads redshirt sophomore Cardale Jones to be the next in at quarterback for Ohio State. Barrett redshirted in 2013 while recovering from a knee injury he suffered in his senior season of high school. Jones appeared in three games last season, completing 1/2 passes for 3 yards and rushing 17 times for 128 yards and a touchdown.
The Buckeyes must also replace RB Carlos Hyde, who rushed for over 1,500 yards in 2013, along with four starters on their offensive line. Their talent should allow them to contend for the Big Ten title anyway, especially if they can shore up their issues on defense under new co-DC Chris Ash, but this certainly hurts their chances at a national title run and likely makes Michigan State the frontrunner for the conference title.
UPDATE: Ohio State has released a statement confirming Miller will miss the 2014 season. Miller is on track to graduate in December; he plans to enroll in graduate school at OSU and return for the 2015 season.