Can Braxton Miller really help the Browns (or at least give them lessons)? Doug Lesmerises

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Maybe Braxton Miller is telling the Browns an uplifting story, the memory of a season with too much talent that has never come together and the ways in which Odell Beckham, Nick Chubb and Jarvis Landry can learn something from what happened to Michael Thomas, Ezekiel Elliott and Miller.

The 2015 Ohio State season, when the reigning national champions never met their offensive, comes to my mind when I talk about the 2019 Browns. That season, the Buckeyes introduced Thomas (nowadays). NFL's best receiver, Elliott (NFL's best half-defenseman), Curtis Samuel (a possible second-round pick looking for an outstanding season in Carolina), Nick Vannett (a tight end later in the third round) as well as Jalin Marshall (short career with the Jets) and Miller (third round pick of the Texans).

The result? The Buckeyes ranked 28th in the nation in points per game and 41st in yards per game and only 14 points in the rain against Michigan State in the loss that missed their chance to win. defend their title.

Why struggles? Because the Buckeyes were too anxious to spread the opportunities evenly and keep the players happy instead of just launching an offensive. Ohio State then had two other problems that the Browns did not have to face: a quarterback battle they could not settle and two offensive coordinators who were bad at work.

But still, learn the lesson Browns. Just play. Just win. Do not try to be fair to all the talents.

When the Browns signed Miller on Tuesday, that was my reaction. As for the Browns, I would be surprised if that happens.

An outstanding college quarterback, Miller has twice won the Big Ten Player Award in 2012 and 2013, before a shoulder injury before the 2014 season ends his quarterback career. He was never the most talented pitcher, and certainly not the most traditional quarterback, but I was still curious about Miller's potential for the NFL as a quarterback. He can not pitch like Kyler Murray … but could the good coach and the good franchise have made him work with Miller at the quarterback?

At the reception, like the 2015 Buckeyes, no team found the best way to deploy Miller. I do not think the Browns will be different. It's his feat, but it's no shock to me that receiver Miller is not a regular NFL player. Faced with receivers close to his equal level of athlete, but who played in this position all their lives, Miller is not a starter. And when it comes to doing the other things that backups do, you have to keep 45 active players every Sunday … this guy was the best player in Big Ten. Would someone wait for him to win his guard in special teams?

That Thomas is the No. 47 pick in the 2016 NFL draft and that Miller is the No. 85 pick proves how bad the NFL can be from time to time. Miller was the best athlete, but Thomas was so much better as receiver, in skill and experience, that he should have been fished 100 places higher than Miller. Not only 38 places.

Miller has captured 34 passes for a total of 261 yards in 21 games in Houston in 2016 and 2017. He was released at the end of last August and was signed by Philadelphia into his training squad. . The Eagles have been injured several times but have never promoted Miller to active membership status. They let him go four days ago. The Browns are trying a talent. But at this point, I think Miller is what he is.

Not really an NFL receiver. Not really a guy back from the NFL. This is no longer a quarterback. He is an extraordinary talent with no job, who probably would have had to make a lot of money at the university to wear the Buckeyes in the first two seasons of the Urban Meyer era, but he does not quite fit the reality professional football.

The Browns know that the old QBs of Ohio State have become receivers. Terrelle Pryor led the 2016 Browns in reception. But he was a catcher at 6 feet 4 inches and 230 pounds, two inches taller and 15 pounds taller than Miller. In my mind, Miller is always caught between the two.

Of course, there is a chance that this is the break that needs Miller, 26, after not playing in an NFL game for a year. But I thought that when the former Buckeye Tyvis Powell had signed with the Browns in February 2017, he had a much more legitimate chance to stay as a secondary substitute player and to form a special team. He never participated in the regular season in Cleveland.

Do not expect Miller either. He has talent. But the Browns already have a lot. Hope that Miller can remind them, not too much.