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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 89 f Valuable Player in consecutive years since Indiana's Anthony Thompson did it in 1988-89. Could he be the first to win it three times? "If he can stay healthy, there is no more dynamic weapon in the Big Ten," Dienhart said. "What makes him special is his ability to improvise, work out of the pocket, make something out of nothing. I think he's continued to become a better passer." Miller didn't play in the spring as he was nursing a sore throwing shoulder. So the Buckeye offensive line, with four newcomers, must do the job and a strong running back needs to emerge to take some of the pressure off of Miller. Dienhart thinks the quarterback play, at the elite or national championship level, has been lacking in the conference for years. A Big Ten quarterback hasn't been taken in the NFL's top round since 1995 when Kerry Col- lins was the fifth overall pick since. Yes, Drew Brees and Tom Brady are future NFL Hall of Famers, but they were drafted in the second and sixth rounds, respective- ly, and both played in the Big Ten nearly 15 years ago. "Guys like Penn State's Christian Hackenberg could be at that elite level at some point," Dienhart said. "But quarterback play at an elite status, at least a de- cent abundance of it, is a position that has not per- formed up to expectations in recent years. "Yet, with Miller, Cook, Hackenberg, Rudock and even guys like Illinois transfer Wes Lunt, Michigan's Devin Gardner and Indiana's Nate Sudfeld, there is across the board as good of quarterbacking as you have seen in the Big Ten in a while." While quarterback is a strength, running back isn't far behind. Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon will get Heisman mentions, as will Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah. "But they're not the only high-level talents," Di- enhart said. "Michigan State (Jeremy Langford) and Minnesota (David Cobb) have returning 1,000-yard rushers, and Penn State and Iowa have multiple guys that can hurt you. And Indiana's Tevin Coleman is so explosive, he would have had 1,000 yards last year had he not got hurt late in the year. And Northwestern's Venric Mark is back from injury, too." HOW QUICKLY WILL MARYLAND AND RUTGERS MATTER? There are differing opinions on what immediate im- pact the Big Ten's two newcomers will have right away. Maryland has the ability to rattle the chains a bit in the East, while Rutgers maybe not as much in the same division. "Randy Edsall is a tough no-nonsense coach," Di- enhart said of the Terrapins. "They have one of the best receiving corps in the Big Ten and they have some playmakers on the defensive side, especially in the front seven." But DiNardo thinks the future is very bright for both to the schools for one reason: Recruiting. "They're well-positioned to get right in the middle of it," DiNardo said. "Right now unofficial visits are more important than official visits in football recruit- ing. And the fact that Rutgers and Maryland are locat- ed in huge population centers will make it easier for prospects to visit them unofficially. Unless the rules change and they start allowing official visits for high school juniors, schools in less populated states that Ziccarelli Builders, Inc. Construction Planners and Contractors Commercial & Industrial General Contractor LEED Certified Projects Augie Ziccarelli, CEM 1981 One Overlook Point, Lincolnshire, IL 60069 Phone: 847.913.1000 zicbuilders.com