The starting quarterback at Ohio State has to be a Heisman Trophy candidate.
At least, that's the opinion of head coach Urban Meyer, who revealed those high expectations at the tail end of spring practice this April.
"The message was very clear to our team, and if you're going to play quarterback at Ohio State, you need to be a Heisman candidate," Meyer said, according to Bill Landis of the Plain Dealer. He later added, "If you play quarterback at Ohio State in this offense, you have to be a Heisman candidate, or we're going to suffer."
With the latest odds released by Bovada (h/t Patrick Murphy of The Ozone), the Buckeyes have their candidate in J.T. Barrett.
The dual-threat signal-caller already rewrote the school and Big Ten record books in 2014, breaking the single-season conference touchdown mark as a redshirt freshman. He was good enough in his first year to finish fifth in the Heisman voting.
But a broken ankle suffered against Michigan opened a quarterback competition with Cardale Jones, which derailed a followup campaign and another run at college football's highest individual honor.
Now a redshirt junior and the clear-cut leader of both the offense and the team as a whole, Barrett has an opportunity to bring Ohio State its eighth Heisman Trophy in school history.
What are the biggest obstacles he'll face this fall?
The Schedule
Ohio State has been lambasted in recent years for a perceived lack of schedule strength, as a downturn in quality nonconference opponents was paired with a declining Big Ten.
That won't be the case this year when the Buckeyes take on one of the most challenging slates in the country.
The Big Ten itself is well on the rise after Ohio State won the national title two years ago, and as a whole, the conference has gone 11-10 in the postseason since 2014. Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Northwestern, all of which are on the Buckeyes' schedule this fall, are projected as Top 25 teams by Bleacher Report's Ryan McCrystal.
The biggest challenge, however, will come early when Ohio State travels for a prime-time showdown with playoff contender Oklahoma in Week 3.
With five night games already on the docket, Barrett will have plenty of opportunities to shine this fall. But the quality of opponent will make it extremely tough for him to put up the video game numbers of recent Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks.
The Play-Calling
With two big-time quarterbacks, Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield and loads of playmaking ability on the perimeter, Ohio State's offense was supposed to be one of the most explosive in all of college football last year.
That explosiveness didn't truly materialize until the final week of the regular season, and much of that was due to a lack of quality play-calling.
The Buckeyes were transitioning from former offensive coordinator Tom Herman (who moved on to be the head coach at Houston) to offensive coordinator Tim Beck, who held the same position under Bo Pelini at Nebraska. Beck struggled to utilize all the tools he inherited, as Ohio State's pass offense ranked No. 100 nationally.
Ohio State figured some things out in its final two games when co-offensive coordinator Ed Warinner moved from the sideline to the booth to call plays alongside Beck. The Buckeyes shifted to an uptempo offense, which yielded much better results in routs of Michigan and Notre Dame.
But most of the damage was done on the ground, as the rushing offense accounted for 654 of the 978 total yards Ohio State amassed against the Wolverines and Irish.
If Beck and Warinner can't find the aerial groove the Buckeyes had under Herman, Barrett might not have the numbers to get to New York City.
The Supporting Cast
Another thing that could affect Barrett's numbers is a new and relatively young supporting cast.
The Buckeyes are replacing all of their offensive skill players with the loss of all three starting wideouts (Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall and Braxton Miller), tight end Nick Vannett and, of course, Elliott at running back.
Ohio State has loads of promising options on the perimeter, starting with Noah Brown and Corey Smith—two relative vets who were supposed to contribute last year before broken legs derailed their seasons. Parris Campbell, Curtis Samuel, Torrance Gibson and Austin Mack give the Buckeyes plenty of potential superstars out wide, but there isn't a whole lot of game-time experience in the group.
When Barrett was at his best during the 2014 season, he worked as a distributor in Ohio State's offense. His two primary targets—Devin Smith and Thomas—are now playing their football in the NFL as second-round draft selections.
If Ohio State can't identify a few reliable targets for Barrett to lean on, his chances of orchestrating a notable offense diminish greatly.
The Strong Field
Even if Barrett is able to tame the tough schedule, the passing attack evolves and the supporting cast emerges quickly, it will still be tough to prove himself as the most outstanding player in college football.
The 2016 Heisman candidate field is absolutely stacked.
Ahead of Barrett on Bovada's latest Heisman odds are LSU running back Leonard Fournette (who ran for 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns last year), Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (who led his team to the national title game and amassed 5,209 yards and 47 total touchdowns) and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey (who totaled 2,703 yards and 17 total touchdowns).
Barrett has even odds with do-everything Florida State running back Dalvin Cook and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.
It's one of the strongest fields in recent memory, and Barrett will need to elevate his game to uncharted territory to come out on top.
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