Ohio State won't play in the Big Ten Championship Game until Saturday night.
But Buckeyes quarterback Dwayne Haskins won't have to wait until then to add to his already growing hardware collection.
On Friday, the Chicago Tribune announced that Dwayne Haskins has won its Silver Football award, which is presented annually to the top player in the Big Ten. The redshirt sophomore is the third Ohio State player to win the honor in the past four years, joining quarterback J.T. Barrett (2016) and running back Ezekiel Elliott (2015).
Quarterback Braxton Miller also won the award in 2012 and 2013.
Earlier this week, the 6-foot-5 signal-caller was named the Big Ten's Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year and first-team All-Conference. Leading the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record and Big Ten East title, Haskins compiled a historic season in his first year as a starter in Columbus, completing 69 percent of his passes for 4,081 yards and 42 touchdowns -- both of which are Big Ten single-season records.
Thanks to his meteoric rise, Haskins' stint as Ohio State's starter could be a short one. On Thursday, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. revealed that the Maryland native is currently the No. 11 overall player on his big board.
"The Michigan game forced me to say, 'Hey, I'm not going to wait any longer,'" Kiper said, referring to Haskins' 396-yard, 6-touchdown performance in the Buckeyes' 62-39 win over the Wolverines last week. "I'll put him in at No. 11 right now. He could obviously move up from here... he's certainly a guy deserving of being in that early-mid first-round discussion."
But before Haskins concerns himself with his draft status, he first has unfinished business to take care of at the college level. On Saturday, the Buckeyes will face No. 19 Northwestern in Indianapolis, with a second straight Big Ten title and potentially, a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line.
