One is a tad flamboyant, hardly ever sitting in the shadows. The other is diligent and focused, instead only coming out of the film room when he absolutely must.
If you know anything about Ohio State's quarterback situation, you know the first individual is redshirt junior Cardale Jones, while the latter is redshirt sophomore J.T. Barrett.
With Braxton Miller's reported decision to change positions and play H-back or wide receiver this fall, the most talked about storyline in college football this fall is down from three players to two.
Urban Meyer, Ed Warinner and Tim Beck now only have to pick between Barrett — the even-keeled Texan — and Jones — the robust and fun-loving Clevander — when it comes to selecting Ohio State's starting quarterback for 2015.
Jones has said off-field aspects are extremely important when it comes to determining who get the nod. He shared other things in Sandusky, Ohio, July 10, also noting that he is still only in the red group among his teammates. Red is the middle tier of a ranking system put in place by Meyer — "Going to get to gold soon, right Cardale?" the coach asked then — that signifies maturity and personal advancement through the academic part of being a student-athlete. Barrett, and Miller for that matter, are in the gold group. Jones still lags behind.
Jones at a speaking event in Sandusky.
"No, it would never be just who is the best football player," Jones said then. "I do believe it's the best overall guy in and outside the classroom, on and off the field."
It's hard to determine which guy between Jones and Barrett leads the competition right now, especially considering the latest update on Barrett's health was when Meyer said he was 95 percent July 1 in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Fall camp opens Aug. 10, but since the Spring Game April 18, it's Jones who's been out and about enjoying his newfound fame and telling the world about it.
He, Miller, Joshua Perry and Ezekiel Elliott joined Meyer at the ESPY awards July 15. He had to though, earning a nomination in the "Best Breakthrough Athlete" category.
Jones took to Twitter and Instagram often in the 48 hours he was in Los Angeles, however, on the red carpet, during the show spitting game at MMA star Ronda Rousey (she eventually responded) as well as congratulating Little League star Mo'ne Davis for beating him in the category.
There was a bit of consternation that Barrett, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting during 2014, wasn't in Los Angeles on behalf of the Buckeyes. But he made sure that it was cool and he wasn't upset.
In his tweet where he cleared the air, Barrett noted "just know I'm working." Known as one of the most diligent workers on the entire team, it isn't too off-base to think the quarterback was watching film of Virginia Tech while his teammates were living it up in Hollywood. That's just the way he's wired.
Barrett spent a week in Oregon at Elite 11 tutoring the youth of the sport, getting the attention of the recruiting buffs in attendance who were impressed with how well he's recovered and his touch on the ball.
Even more recent, the man known as "The Distributor" was seen on social media organizing a Saturday afternoon workout with some young players at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Meanwhile, Jones has thrown at the first pitch at a Cleveland Indians game and gotten a tattoo with Miller. He's also made a child's day as part of the Make-A-Wish program Independence Day weekend while doing his scheduled workouts just like the rest of his teammates.
Jones told ESPN.com he wasn't going to be given anything by Meyer despite leading the Buckeyes to national championship in January.
"I haven't proven anything yet," Jones said then.
He knows the competition is going to be fierce, as does Barrett. It could appear that Barrett's been more focused than Jones this summer, but keep in mind the latter enjoys putting his life on social media much more than the former. Barrett didn't even get a Twitter account until the week of the Sugar Bowl.
Barrett still got work in at the Spring Game.
Their teammates claim the battle in camp won't be a distraction, but that was before news broke of Miller's move to wide receiver.
Barrett beat out Jones last fall for the starting job after Miller re-injured his throwing shoulder. Jones was the only one of the three who was healthy in spring practice, taking the majority of the reps along the way.
Who has the advantage? That's up for debate, but both players have enjoyed their summers in different ways.
Jones loves to have a good time and express that on the Internet, but he still passed his conditioning test Sunday:
Conditioning test was a success
— Cardale Jones (@CJ12_) July 26, 2015
Barrett enjoys things in his own way and doesn't tweet or post to Instagram as much as Jones, so we don't always know what he's doing.
There's nothing wrong with that. But summer's almost over and we are set to finally start getting some answers with fall camp imminent.
Both laughed with each other and their teammates at Friday Night Lights, enjoying being in Ohio Stadium once again. They also directed drills and dished out advice to campers.
The focus is there. They just have different ways of showing it, a result of their personalities.
We're not far from seeing how those personalities play into the quarterback battle, but we've seen how they've affected their offseason.
