Roundtable: How this season will impact future of Buckeyes QB room
COLUMBUS — We’re beginning to wrap up Quarterback Week at Lettermen Row, a full week full of coverage about the Ohio State signal-callers and their outlook.
The Buckeyes have a quarterback competition on their hands for the second straight offseason, and how this one shakes out will have a massive impact on the future of the quarterback room under Ryan Day.
Lettermen Row’s Spencer Holbrook and Andy Backstrom had a good discussion about the future of the room and how this summer impacts it. Here it is:
Spencer: Well, here we go again, Andy. Second straight offseason with a quarterback competition heading into the summer – and training camp. We’ve talked so much about it, especially this week as we deep-dive the position. Where do you see the battle right now and how are you feeling about it moving into summer workouts?
Andy: I see this as a three-way race at this point, with Will Howard, Devin Brown and Julian Sayin being the QB1 candidates entering training camp. Of those three, Howard and Brown have the best shot to get the nod for the opener. While Brown was first in line for quarterback drills throughout spring ball, Howard started the spring game, and I believe the Kansas State grad transfer is still the frontrunner because of the 27 starts he has under his belt, not to mention the Big 12 title he won in 2022 or the 33 total touchdowns he recorded in 2023.
What will it take for Brown to surpass Howard this summer?
Spencer: I think he needs to be near perfect to pass Howard. And no, I don’t believe the talent gap is so wide that Brown has to be perfect. It’s just that Howard has so much experience in key moments from his time at Kansas State. I said it on a video this week, and I’ll say it again. Howard may not have the highest ceiling of any quarterback on the roster, but he might have the highest floor with his experience. That’s what the Buckeyes need from their quarterback this year, given the talent everywhere else on the roster. Brown may even have a higher ceiling than Howard. Who knows? But I think Howard’s floor is so defined, and I can see Ohio State still being elite with the bottom-level of what Will Howard can do as a dual-threat quarterback.
It’s so interesting to me, because if Howard wins the job, Ohio State will have a third straight quarterback competition next offseason, which isn’t ideal. Is that where we’re headed? And when will the next offseason be when the Buckeyes have an incumbent starter? Seems like it could be a while.
Andy: Well, if Howard wins the job and remains the starter throughout the 2024 season, then, yes, there will be another quarterback competition next offseason. In that scenario, Howard goes off to the NFL Draft, Brown likely transfers (he’d have to, right?) and the likes of Julian Sayin, Air Noland and Tavien St. Clair would duke it out for the top spot on the quarterback ladder, plus Lincoln Kienholz if he stays for a third year with the program. BUT if Howard is a Week 1 starter who somehow loses the job during the season to either Brown or Sayin, and either of those two replacements achieves great success, then Ohio State probably wouldn’t have a quarterback competition next offseason.
So if it’s the first scenario, 2026 spring will likely be the first time the Buckeyes don’t have a battle under center. But if it’s the second scenario, Ohio State could find itself with QB1 continuity entering the 2025 season.
About Sayin, by the way – do you believe he has a legitimate chance to start at some point this year? I think we may have differing opinions on this one.
Spencer: I think that’s really, really hard to see happening. Sayin looked so good in spring practice. Yes, he struggled in the spring game, but even Ryan Day admitted that Sayin’s playing time and progress will only be up to Sayin; he’s that good already. But starting as a freshman? Maybe if this roster wasn’t so loaded and the stakes weren’t so damn high at Ohio State this fall, Sayin could eventually take over at some point. But Day and the staff are coaching for their futures this season, and putting that in the hands and on the shoulders of a true freshman is hard to see, especially with veterans there who can be effective in the style of offense Ohio State wants to have.
And to be clear: I am extremely high on Sayin, even this upcoming season. He’s going to play a lot in the nonconference slate. But I just can’t get there in seeing him play in big-time moments down the stretch of the season. What say you?
Andy: Great coaches make bold moves. Trailing Georgia at halftime of the national title game at the end of the 2017 season, Alabama’s Nick Saban made the switch from seasoned starter Jalen Hurts to then-true freshman Tua Tagovailoa in the third quarter. Tagovailoa piloted a comeback victory, and the Crimson Tide hoisted the CFP trophy. The next year, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney moved off a similarly experienced and dual-threat quarterback, Kelly Bryant, for a highly-touted true freshman quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, four games into the season. The result? Lawrence led the Tigers to a national championship in his first year running the show. Both Hurts and Bryant had gotten their respective schools to at least New Year’s Six standing while starting, but neither could win it all.
Day needs to find the quarterback who can win it all, not just get Ohio State close. If that’s a true freshman, then so be it. Sayin shed his black stripe faster than any other Buckeyes quarterback since the tradition was introduced in 2012. By all accounts, he just has it. If Howard or Brown – whoever wins the job this summer – isn’t knocking it out of the park six games in, Day will have a chance to make a bold move. There’s an off week after the Oregon game, after all. It could be the difference between a really good and historically great Buckeyes season. That’s if and only if Sayin continues to progress at the rate he’s been growing in his early days at Ohio State, of course.
Whatever happens, I think there’s going to be room for lots of speculation during those two off weeks this season. Do you agree?
Spencer: If the offense is struggling, yes. But if the offense is humming – and it may hum no matter who the quarterback is because of the running game and wide receiver talent – then I just can’t see a mid-season move being made. That’s like calling the bullpen when your starter has a perfect game going. And with the nonconference slate as weak as it is, it’s hard to see the season-opening starter struggling at any point other than against Oregon.
With that being said, Sayin’s talent can’t be denied. And if he’s showing that he can do it, he’s going to overtake the others to become the starter. Overall, this season has just as much of an impact on the long-term future of the quarterback room as it does on this season’s competition, as weird as it is to say that.
Andy: The thing is, much of the same was said about the quarterback competition last offseason. Statements along the lines of “Regardless if McCord or Brown is starting, Ohio State is good enough to beat Michigan and win a national championship.” Except, at the end of the day, even if McCord’s A-game was good enough to beat Michigan, it’s hard to say he had enough in the tank to take Ohio State to the promised land, considering his footwork and vision issues as well as his occasional accuracy shortcomings. Day said it himself earlier this month:
“It’s going to be a huge part of our season,” Day said on 97.1 The Fan, “how well the quarterback plays. We know that. We know how important the offensive line play is going to be. We know how important the quarterback play is going to be. We’re not shying away from that. And typically the defense is going to be strong and how well they play late in the season is going to be critical.
“But it always comes down to the quarterback, and so that’s a big part of it.”
To your final point, yes, this season’s going to affect the long-term outlook of the quarterback room. There’s also pressure on Day to make the right call. He quickly developed a reputation as a quarterback guru at Ohio State. Last year, with J.J. McCarthy winning a national title at Michigan, and McCord – who Day picked over McCarthy in the 2021 recruiting class – never truly breaking out, that reputation took a bit of a hit. Above all else, Day has to find a way to end the losing streak to Michigan this season. But, also, he needs to get his quarterback situation back on track, too.
Spencer: 100 percent agree, Andy. It should be fun to watch unfold. We’ll get answers soon enough.
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