Naming elite trait for each Buckeyes quarterback

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MickWalker asks: Ryan Day has talked about wanting his quarterbacks to have one elite trait. What is the elite track for each guy in the room?

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day has become one of the best quarterback talent-evaluators in college football — and maybe the entire sport.

How does he do it? He starts by identifying an elite trait for a quarterback and then going from there.

While we at Lettermen Row can’t evaluate quarterbacks quite like the Buckeyes’ head coach, we can take a stab at naming the elite trait for each of the Buckeyes’ five quarterbacks. Let’s try our best.

Will Howard: Playmaking

Flip on the tape and watch what Will Howard did during his four-year career at Kansas State. When plays broke down, Howard was able to make things happen with his legs — or even extend plays and find receivers down the field. That’s what playmaking is all about, and that’s how Howard became a household name in college football at Kansas State. It’s what has him battling with Devin Brown for the starting quarterback job at Ohio State this offseason, and it could be the differentiating factor in the battle during training camp this August. Howard has an elite ability to pick up tough yards, either on the ground or through the air. That’ll show itself as the season goes on, even if he doesn’t win the starting job. He can just make plays.

Devin Brown: Competitiveness

By no means is calling Devin Brown‘s competitiveness his elite trait a knock on Brown or his ability to play quarterback. But he’s an elite, elite competitor. Whether that shows itself with the ‘burning boats’ painting he posted to social media, signaling he was all-in at Ohio State this offseason, or his leadership during bowl prep after Kyle McCord left the program or even when he was battling back from injury last season to make sure he was ready for the bowl game, Brown shows it at every turn. He’s now in the middle of his second quarterback competition at Ohio State, and these settings never seen to bother him — at all. Neither did the loss to McCord in the battle last fall. Devin Brown is a great competitor. That certainly qualifies as his elite trait.

Lincoln Kienholz: Athleticism

This special trait was revealed long before Lincoln Kienholz even flipped from Washington to join the Ohio State recruiting class of 2023. Kienholz was a four-sport star athlete at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota, proving that he can excel at any sport he plays. And he flashed that elite athleticism during his limited playing time as a true freshman last season, especially when he was running for his life behind shoddy offensive line play in the Cotton Bowl, his only legitimate playing time of the year. He certainly can be a threat in the Buckeyes rushing attack, a new wrinkle Chip Kelly and Ryan Day are installing to the offensive fold this offseason. Kienholz is ultra-athletic. That’s his elite trait.

Julian Sayin: Arm talent (so far)

It’s probably too early for anyone other than Ryan Day, Chip Kelly or Julian Sayin himself to say definitively what Sayin’s elite trait is. But we’ll try our best after seeing Sayin in spring practice. Sayin has an elite arm. He backed up what Lettermen Row sources were saying early in spring with an impressive showing at Student Appreciation Day in late March, and then he proved it further with incredible throws around the Horseshoe the day before the spring game — when the media was allowed to watch the entire practice. Sayin has an elite arm, maybe the best for an Ohio State quarterback since C.J. Stroud — and Sayin is just a true freshman. If he continues to progress, his arm will prove to be the elite trait Ryan Day looks for in his quarterbacks.

Air Noland: Commitment (so far)

Truth be told: we didn’t see much of Air Noland in spring practice. Yes, he led the Buckeyes offense on two touchdown drives during the second half of the spring game, but he didn’t get as many reps during his first spring as the other four quarterbacks in the room did. Here’s what we know about him, though: his commitment is real and elite. He committed to the Buckeyes just a couple of weeks after Dylan Raiola left the 2024 Ohio State recruiting class, and he stuck with that commitment. He even stuck around following this spring, when Day and the staff brought Sayin in as a second quarterback — and a higher-rated quarterback — in the 2024 class. Noland just keeps working hard, grinding and showing that he’s committed to being a part of the equation at Ohio State. That’s a good starting point, and his true elite trait will come to the surface soon if he keeps at it.

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