Analysis: What Will Transfer QB Jack Miller Bring to the Florida Gators?

Assessing the Florida Gators' acquisition of Ohio State quarterback Jack Miller and the skills he brings to the program.

With Emory Jones set to enter the transfer portal after the Gasparilla Bowl and the decommitment of 2022 recruit Nick Evers, the Florida Gators needed to add depth and talent to the quarterback room in this class either via the portal or the recruiting class, or both. Enter Jack Miller, a redshirt freshman transfer from Ohio State, who announced his transfer to Florida on Tuesday.

Miller is a former four-star prospect from the state of Arizona that spent the last two years as a backup for the Buckeyes, appearing in four games this season and completing 7 of 14 passes for 101 yards. On November 28, Miller made the decision to enter his name into the transfer portal and has opted to take his talents further south to Gainesville to play for the orange and blue. 

AllGators takes a look at what Florida is getting in the two-year veteran signal-caller and what could be expected once he gets to campus.

The first thing that you notice from Miller is his size. Standing at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, he has a solid frame for the position that is pretty well filled out to this point in his career. The second is his arm strength: While his arm doesn’t "wow" you, it is plenty strong enough to make all the throws on the field. When given a clean pocket, Miller does a good job of setting his feet and delivering an accurate football to his receivers.

When watching his film from Ohio State's spring game this past year, you can see Miller is decisive, gets the ball out quick and is not afraid to hit his check down. However, sometimes Miller trusts his arm a little too much which can lead to some ill-advised throws into tight coverage. He also struggles with accuracy at times when he isn’t able to get his feet set.

Even though he was listed as a pro-style quarterback coming out of high school, Miller shows adequate athleticism to extend plays. While I don’t think he is someone that’s going to rip off 50-60 yard touchdown runs, he can certainly go get you positive yards on designed QB runs or when a play breaks down.

But I think the biggest thing that Miller brings is confidence and competitive nature. With the Gators returning rising redshirt sophomore Anthony Richardson next season, not many transfer QBs would choose to come in and compete against a talented young passer who is widely expected to earn starting momentum, but Miller did. 

There is no guarantee that Miller will win the starting job for next fall and, quite frankly, the deck seems stacked against him. But Miller wasn’t afraid to come in and compete. And I think that is exactly the kind of player and person new Gators head coach Billy Napier is looking for at the quarterback position.

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