With the start of the NCAA football season a little more than a month away, a piece of the quarterback puzzle has fallen into place for the Ohio State Buckeyes. While we don’t yet know who will start, we’re beginning to see who won’t.

Braxton Miller confirmed to Sports Illustrated‘s Pete Thamel on Thursday night that he plans to start the 2015 season playing H-Back — a hybrid receiver position — for the Buckeyes.

“For the most part, it’s going to be H-Back and punt return,” Miller said in a phone interview to SI.com on Thursday night. “It’s a long process to get back totally to throwing and throwing every day. This is the smarter thing for right now, God blessed me with a lot of talent and different opportunities. I’m going to have fun with that and still score a lot of touchdowns and help the team out and be dominant at that.”

According to SI, Miller first had the idea to switch to wide receiver in April, when he discussed it with strength coach Mickey Marotti. Next, he brought it up to head coach Urban Meyer and, in May, the two started watching film of wide receivers together. Later that month, Miller and fellow quarterback J.T. Barrett began sneaking on the practice field together, so Miller could catch passes from Barrett.

Miller told SI.com that he had kept the idea of switching to receiver a secret for quite some time, keeping it as a fallback plan in case he couldn’t return fully healthy to quarterback.

But Miller hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of seeing some time under center in 2015, as he said he estimates that he’ll spend about 80 percent of his time during training camp at receiver and 20 percent at quarterback. But with two shoulder surgeries already under his belt — and an estimated two more months until he’s completely healthy — he’s approaching the season with his sights set on playing wide receiver.

“It’s going to be electric”

Not only does Miller’s move to wideout alleviate some of the pressure around the quarterback position for the Buckeyes, it strengthens their already-packed-with-talent roster — and improves their odds to repeat as national champion.

“It’s going to be electric,” Miller said. “We had a great season last year, but we didn’t see anyone do off-the-wall type stuff. I’m sure guys miss seeing an explosive, 60-yard shake-and-bake run every once in a while.”

The Ohio State staff believes that, from H-Back, Miller will be able to take a little bit of everything, from conventional passes to pitches, shovel passes and bubble screens — and maybe even throw the ball on trick plays.

“Braxton Miller can play wide receiver as long as he wants to play it,” says Ohio State receivers coach Zach Smith. “His speed, strength, talent, commitment and, really, lifestyle will allow him to be like Joey Galloway. It’s going to be a matter of how quickly he grows into the position, but the sky is the limit for him.”

And when it comes to the quarterback position for the Buckeyes, it’s now a two-man race between redshirt junior (and Cleveland native) Cardale Jones and redshirt sophomore J.T. Barrett.