Is this the Year of the Quarterback in the Big Ten? With NFL draft hopefuls, veteran returning starters and other intriguing prospects taking snaps around the league in 2015, it just might be. All week long, we’re taking a closer look at some of this fall’s most interesting Big Ten quarterbacks ...

We’re not ranking the Big Ten quarterbacks during our week of examining the league’s most intriguing ones. But if we were, there’s little doubt that Ohio State would have three of the top five quarterbacks in the conference right now.

As crazy as it sounds, it might be best for Ohio State to make Big Ten Quarterback of the Year J.T. Barrett third-string this season. Joe Maiorana/USA TODAY Sports

That underscores just how insane and unprecedented the Buckeyes’ battle is. This is an era where quarterbacks transfer at the slightest hint of a threat to their playing time. Witness Jake Rudock leaving Iowa for Michigan after C.J. Beathard was elevated to No. 1 on the depth chart in January. Or how both Illinois' Aaron Bailey and Indiana's Tre Roberson dropped down to the FCS level the past two years rather than risk a time-share arrangement.

Yet somehow Ohio State has three star quarterbacks on the roster at the same time, and none of them have left despite the constant rumors of a Braxton Miller departure. Unique timing and circumstances have played a part here, as Cardale Jones didn’t believe he had quite enough experience to turn pro after starting just three games, even if those were wins in the Big Ten championship game, the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and the national title game over Oregon.

Miller’s shoulder injury limited his options; he has yet to be cleared to let his right arm loose. And J.T. Barrett, like the other two, has already used up a redshirt year and would have to burn a season of eligibility if he went to another program.

Don’t discount the tug of playing for the home-state school for the Ohio-born-and-bred tandem of Miller and Jones. Playing for a program that’s coming off a national title and is set up to make another run this season also doesn’t hurt.

Further muddying the waters is that all three guys bring different strenghts to the table, though their skills have some overlap. Jones has the rocket-launcher arm, but he’s also a terror to tackle when his 250-pound body starts rolling downfield on a keeper. Miller is one of the quickest, shiftiest athletes around and is also no slouch in the arm-strength department. Barrett is considered more cerebral and less athletic than the other two, but he’s the guy who now holds most of Ohio State’s single-season quarterback records.

No wonder, then, that this position battle -- which really doesn’t even fully begin until Barrett and Miller are healthy -- has attracted such intense interest already. It’s why a silly tweet like Jones' “May Fools” prank that he was transferring to Akron had people holding their breath for several minutes. It’s why even coach Urban Meyer admitted the prospect of actually choosing one of those guys and benching the other two was “eating away” at him earlier this spring.

Meyer can’t really lose in this decision, as all three quarterbacks are capable of leading a team to a national championship -- unless, that is, the choice drives a wedge in the quarterbacks' room and the team. That seems unlikely, given the Buckeyes’ closeness, but it can’t be totally dismissed.

Really, though, there’s one pretty obvious choice: Split the gig between Jones and Miller.

Miller is a senior, and Jones is almost certainly going to the NFL after this season. So they both need to play. It would be agonizing to sit Barrett after he won Big Ten Quarterback of the Year honors, but he’d still have two years left after this one to run the show. So he might understand.

Make Jones the starter and Miller the “super-Tebow” change-of-pace guy who also could move around to different parts of the field. Miller might not want to hear that right now, but Meyer has to explain to him that it’s best not only for his recovering shoulder but his NFL future. It could be a tough sell at first, but Meyer is an outstanding salesman.

The Buckeyes’ offense was unstoppable with Jones stretching the field during the playoff run. Imagine the nightmares they could cause with Jones and Miller in the backfield together, or how Miller coming into the game would force a defense to guard against the run even though the pass option remained viable. Meyer could ride the hot hand (or legs), and nothing keeps players happy quite like winning and scoring a bunch in the process.

And as Miller knows, playing in Ohio State’s system can mean a lot of hits for the quarterback. This reduces the absorption of bodily harm, while Barrett remains the emergency fill-in of all time.

There's no road map for such a crazy situation. But at least this option is a sensible starting point.