Best Ohio State football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore

When Troy Smith first arrived at Ohio State, he was not a complete quarterback by any standard. He was very much a run-first player at the position and it showed when you look back at the numbers that he put up over that time. While they showed some flashes of what he could be, the totality of his talents had not all fallen into place just yet.

Smith played in eight games in 2004 and only threw 122 passes, completing just 55.7 percent of them for 896 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. He improved notably the next year as he got a full season’s work in, throwing for 2,282 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. But he relied heavily on his rushing as he took 136 carries for 611 yards and 11 scores that season.

The following year in 2006, however, Smith put it all together and the results were highly impressive. The quarterback began to trust his arm and it paid off in a big way. Smith threw for 2,542 yards, 30 touchdowns and only six interceptions that year as his rushing totals dropped off dramatically. Even still, his efforts led the Buckeyes to the National Championship Game, though they succumbed to Florida in that contest.

Despite that, Smith won the Heisman Trophy for his 2006 campaign and it’s hard to argue with that. While he never had much of an NFL career to speak of, he ranks eighth all-time in passing yards and is tied for fifth all-time in passing touchdowns. When you take that into account with the hardware and the team success he led, Smith is deserving of his spot here.