With the June arrival of Terrelle Pryor, many OSU fans are wondering whether Antonio Henton will stay at OSU or whether he will will transfer like Robbie Schoenhoft did.  While there is something to be said for a transfer so that he can guarantee a starting spot somewhere, the advantages of staying cut heavily against it.

The most obvious disadvantage of a transfer would be having to sit out one year if Henton wants to stay in NCAA Division IA football. 

If he elects to step down to Division IAA like Schoenhoft’s move to Delaware, he won’t get the national tv exposure necessary to make him a top draft pick.

Further, while Henton’s talent won’t diminish in stepping down a level in competition, the talent supporting him certainly will.  It’s hard to throw the ball when you have defensive linemen and linebackers all over you.  It’s also more difficult to get completions when you aren’t throwing to top rated receivers.

But look at the advantages of staying:

 1)  Everybody is saying that Todd Boeckman is a shoe-in for the starting job this year as a fifth year senior.  It is true that Tressel values game experience in a QB.  But while Boeckman had a good season last year statistically, his last four games saw four really big steps backwards.  Even the games he won showed chinks in his armor.  Remember the three interceptions at Purdue?  These last four games were also at a time when Henton was impressing the OSU coaching staff so much that he passed Robbie Schoenhoft and grabbed the number 2 spot even though Henton was out most of last year with legal troubles (now a distant memory). 

So Henton has been coming on hard for quite some time and impressing people who were (because of his suspension from the team) not inclined to be impressed by him.  Since Jim Tressel is most impressed by a QB’s decision-making rather than his athletic ability, I say Henton has a solid chance to be the starting QB this year, not the back-up.

2)  Even if Henton is the back-up QB this year, he is one helmet to Todd Boeckman’s knee away from being the starter.  Tougher guys than Boeckman have gone out for a season after just one play.  Look at Lawrence Wilson during the YSU game last year. 

I don’t care how impressive Terrelle Pryor is athletically, there is no way that he beats Henton out for the number two spot this year.  Jim Tressel may use him in an ‘X’ type role to shake up defenses 10 to 15 plays per game, but that does not make him the second string QB.  Rather, it makes him a specialist.

Henton has had a full year of games and practice here now, and knows the OSU playbook from back to front.  There is no way that Terrelle Pryor or any other incoming freshman QB prospect can learn enough of OSU’s playbook from June until September to displace Henton.

3)  Let’s say that Pryor is so good that after a season of learning behind Boeckman and Henton, he challenges for the role of starter in 2009 and beats out Henton (Boeckman having graduated at the end of 2008).  That still leaves Henton in the role of second string QB for his junior and senior years. 

If Pryor outshines Henton, it will be in running the ball; his passing skills being roughly comparable to Henton.  No one can debate that scrambling QBs twist knees and ankles,  they pull hamstrings (ask Justin Zwick after the OSU v. OSU Alamo Bowl game about that), they get concussions.  They might even get into a coach’s dog house by being young and impulsive with the football or missing a class here or there.  If Henton keeps his cool and his nose to the grindstone, he will be there to take back the starting job.

4)  If any of the above sounds unlikely to you, then you have forgotten the lesson of Troy Smith.  You remember him, right?  He lost the starting job to Justin Zwick.  He even went to former Coach John Cooper and asked his advice about staying or transferring.  Cooper may not have been able to beat Michigan, but he sure gave Troy Smith some good advice:  Stay at OSU, work hard, you’ll be the starter before you know it.  Sure enough, after a few bad games by Zwick and a shoulder injury at Iowa, Smith took over the reigns and (but for the end of the season two game suspension) never looked back, and then won the Heisman Trophy. 

People may compare Henton to Smith because they are both African-American QBs, but that is a shallow comparison.  Henton is a much better runner than Smith was, and Henton has about three inches on Smith in height which helps out when one is trying to see downfield. 

In the end, the only legitimate comparison between Smith and Henton may be that they both faced the decision to transfer, both stayed, and both were very successful at OSU despite competing against highly touted QBs with magical high school numbers.

So, Antonio Henton, if you are listening, staying at OSU is your best bet.  As good as Terrelle Pryor may be, I have the nagging feeling that you are better.

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