J.T. Barrett knows the pressure that comes with his job description. Not everyone is wired to deal with the demands of being the starting quarterback at a top football program like Ohio State, one coached by Urban Meyer and beset by fans who demand 50-0 victories regardless of circumstance.
He also knows that he is a human being, 22 years old, a college graduate and decidedly not a robot. Mistakes, imperfections and errors are impossible to avoid.
“Being a quarterback, you get a lot of the blame, which I'm OK with. I accept it,” Barrett said on Thursday after Ohio State wrapped up its second practice of the spring. “But also two, understand that bad things are going to happen and I feel like I'm the best person for this job with the people we have at Ohio State.
“My whole heart is into it. This is all that I do. I'm here to play football, to come from Texas, this is why I came.”
Barrett is 26-4 as a starting quarterback for the Buckeyes. He is taking part in his fifth set of spring practices and barring injury, will take the first snap for Ohio State at Indiana on Aug. 31 when his team opens its 2017 slate. The first three-time captain in program history owns more than 20 school records and will snatch more if he is able to avoid injury this fall.
And yet, fans want to move on to the next thing, be it Joe Burrow, Dwayne Haskins or even true freshman Tate Martell. All are four-star recruits. All are terrific players in their own right. And all remain behind Barrett on the depth chart, the man Urban Meyer will utilize to lead his team out of the dark that was a woeful offensive display against Clemson in the College Football Playoff.
“he’s never lifted the trophy yet. I’m talking about the Big Ten championship or the next one after that. In my opinion, that’s how quarterbacks should be measured.”– Urban Meyer
Barrett knows the 31-0 loss was bad — “I've never been shutout as a starting quarterback in my life,” he says — and said that played into his decision to return to Columbus for a fifth season. That and the feedback from the professional level of the game wasn't where he wanted it to be when he closed the book on his college career. At 6-foot-2, he isn't a prototypical NFL quarterback.
But he is Ohio State's No. 1 quarterback. And it's not like he goes out on Saturday afternoons and does everything he can to make the downfield passing game struggle, force the Buckeyes to finish on the wrong side of the scoreboard or cause fans who clamor for him to be benched on social media pain.
“It's not like I'm trying to mess up the Ohio State Buckeyes,” Barrett said, before dissecting the flack he took after the offense garnered just nine first downs against the Tigers. “I read it sometimes too and it was like I was the enemy, I was the bad guy. I was like, 'Guys, I'm not trying to do that to the Buckeyes. I love the Bucks.'”
It is fair to take issue with Barrett's game. He is at times inaccurate, flat out misses receivers and cannot chuck a football 50 yards with ease like a former teammate who led the Buckeyes to the national title in 2014, Cardale Jones.
Barrett finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting that year, setting a new Big Ten record for total touchdowns with 45. He also won Big Ten Quarterback of the Year. He did the same thing in 2016, in addition to sharing the Silver Football with Penn State's Saquon Barkley as Big Ten Most Valuable Player.
But Meyer (and Barrett) know he hasn't physically been part of a championship in an on-field sense. With Barrett out due to a broken ankle, Jones led a 59-0 wrecking of a proud Wisconsin team in the Big Ten title game, then beat Alabama and Oregon in the College Football Playoff. Barrett and the Buckeyes didn't make it to Indianapolis last year, then flopped in the Playoff.
“He’s a very decorated quarterback. I don’t even know his winning percentage but his percentage must be off the chain,” Meyer said on Tuesday. “However, he’s never lifted the trophy yet. I’m talking about the Big Ten championship or the next one after that. In my opinion, that’s how quarterbacks should be measured.”
Barrett is fully aware of that too. Comments on the Instagram post he used to announce his decision to return to Ohio State varied from supportive to downright offensive. They got so bad he turned them off. He sifted through the same nonsense on Twitter too.
“If they think that I'm a bad player, I don't know what you want me to say. I'm not trying to be,” Barrett said. “I'm trying to be the best I could be at Ohio State in order for us as Ohio State Buckeyes to win national championships, ballgames, that's the purpose.
“If there's somebody out there that's better than me here at Ohio State, then they would be playing. But right now I've been a starter for three years. I'm doing the best I can. Is it going to be perfect all the time? No.”
It isn't, even though expectations for Ohio State with Meyer at the helm are at an all-time high. The head coach says all the time his quarterback needs to be a Heisman Trophy candidate. Wide receivers need to be NFL-caliber. Offensive linemen, running backs and tight ends do too.
But quarterbacks deserve most of the heat because when things go well, they receive most of the admiration. With championships come love, status and a place atop the totem pole.
“It’s the most unique position, in my opinion, in all of sport. How do you measure it?” Meyer asked. “Obviously, Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. Why? He’s won more championships than any quarterback. That’s how J.T. is going to ultimately be measured.”
He is and Barrett knows that. He has one more season to lead his team to the zenith of the Big Ten and college football. With a degree in hand, his focus is now solely on his game and leading the Buckeyes.
Even if he isn't the shiny new toy his haters and other naysayers want to see clapping his hands for the snap from Billy Price this season.
“We're in a society where we want the new and latest thing. I've been here for a minute,” Barrett said. “I read something the other day that was hilarious. It said, 'J.T. Barrett has been at Ohio State longer than Bill Snyder has been a head coach.' Oh, golly. That's what I'm saying.
“You think about it, we live in an era where everybody wants something new, something fresh. When the new iPhone 7 comes out, everyone has to get it because it's the new and latest thing. I'm not the new, latest thing anymore. I've been here for a minute. But also I'm still trying to enhance and get myself better for us to be what we want to be. That's all I can do.”
