Urban Meyer is not even close to the point where he has to pick a starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, but the decision is getting increasingly difficult.

Speaking with ESPN not even a month into spring practices, Meyer said he has "great respect" for all three QBs vying for the starting role: Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones. Each one has something the other two do not and complicating the competition is their sportsmanship.

Though they will be competing with one another for playing time, they all seem committed to helping each other get better, as that in turn helps the Buckeyes. Meyer still seems committed to having one true starter at QB, rather than a committee situation.

"Everything is positive," he told ESPN. "Talent, quality people, value to the program, investment in the program? Check, check, check, check.

"The only negative is two people are going to have to watch."

Miller is the most experienced of the three and has three full seasons at Ohio State under his belt and was in the conversation as a preseason Heisman candidate before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the season.

Barrett has the most immediate experience of the three, as he stepped in for Miller to lead Ohio State to an 11-1 record before breaking his ankle. He even played well enough to earn honorable mentions in some Heisman Trophy conversations.

Then at the bottom of the depth chart was Jones, who led the Buckeyes to wins in the Big Ten Championship, College Football Playoff semifinal and the national title game. The six-foot-five, 250-pound passer has a cannon for a right arm, a rare gift for college QBs, but he is not quite as mobile as Miller and Barrett.

Miller and Barrett are still working their way toward practicing with the offense's first-team, but that likely has not given Jones the inside track.

"That's the only thing that's starting to eat away at me a little bit," Meyer told ESPN. "It didn't for a while because you're just so busy. But now that I'm seeing what I'm seeing, I have such great respect for all three guys."