COLUMBUS — It took freshman Torrance Gibson all of one day in Ohio State’s overpopulated quarterbacks room to realize he would not be throwing footballs anytime soon.

So the coveted prospect asked coach Urban Meyer if he could do the next best thing: catch them.

“I told him I wanted to get on the field,” Gibson said. “I didn’t want to be a selfish guy, just sit on the bench for a whole year and just waste a year.”

Meyer agreed and, just like that, Gibson went from the deepest position on the top-ranked Buckeyes to the one most up for grabs.

A 6-foot-4, 205-pound burner rated by ESPN.com as the No. 2 athlete in his class, the Plantation, Fla., native is among Ohio State’s top options to fill the big-play receiver role left vacant by Devin Smith.

Gibson has spent the past week practicing with receivers, and Meyer said the returns are promising.

While Ohio State’s practices are closed to reporters, a school-released highlight video from a team scrimmage Saturday showed Gibson pulling in a Cardale Jones deep ball in stride down the sideline.

“Torrance is a guy — we still haven’t found our ‘Inside Nine’ guy — he’s the Devin Smith,” Meyer said. “He said, ‘I want to play.’ I said, ‘Well, here are your options: wildcat quarterback, we’ll see what your skill set is at receiver, catching the ball a little bit,’ and we put him back there returning kicks. He’s a very good athlete. He’s a kid that runs around pretty fast and is a really good guy. He’s a team-first guy, which I really appreciate.”

Gibson said the position switch was not easy. He came to Ohio State, in part, because Meyer promised him the chance to play quarterback.

Where most schools saw Gibson’s size and 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash and courted him exclusively as a wideout, Meyer saw him as a dual threat capable of someday leading the Buckeyes’ offense.

Ultimately, though, Gibson saw a depth chart at quarterback with at least three names ahead of his — including Jones and J.T. Barrett, who has three years of eligibility remaining. Like Braxton Miller, another former quarterback transitioning to receiver, his desire to play won out.

If he proves a fast study, a temporary move — as Gibson insists this is — could turn into something more.

“It’s still playing football,” Gibson said. “I’m having fun, doing what I love to do.”

NO SPLIT DECISION: Jones and Barrett said they will fully support Meyer’s decision at the end of their preseason competition.

Just as long as it is unanimous.

Both quarterbacks dismissed the prospect of a platoon system, indicating they would rather be a backup than part of a rotation that could jar the Buckeyes’ offense out of whack.

“I don’t think that would be a great idea,” Jones said. “[Last week,] we were switching every four snaps. … So every two or three sets, I was going, and after the third time I was like, ‘I can’t get in a rhythm.’

“In a two-quarterback system, let’s say I’m on the field for three plays and then [Barrett] runs a drive. I don’t know how well that would work as far as rhythm and developing timing with the guys.”

Jones said he was “pretty sure coach Meyer could make it work,” and Meyer has experience with a two-quarterback system.

At Florida in 2006, he used Chris Leak as the traditional passer and Tim Tebow as the goal line sledgehammer. Yet, for as differently as Jones and Barrett get the job done, the dual threats might not be different enough for the benefits of playing them both to outweigh the negatives.

Barrett, too, hopes Meyer will name a clear starter. He recalled his experience as part of a rotation in high school in Wichita Falls, Texas.

“It was kind of like this competition,” he said. “I was a sophomore, he was a senior, and we switched every series. As a quarterback, that is kind of rough to do.

“You don’t have a rhythm, you don’t get a vibe from the defense about how they are trying to play us. You are not playing the quarterback as an individual. You are playing an offense.”