Mccord, Brown set for battle to be Stroud’s replacement
Editor’s note: In advance of spring practice at Ohio State, The Dispatch is previewing each of the Buckeyes’ position groups. Today: Quarterback.
Ryan Day has never been in a hurry to name a starting quarterback at Ohio State.
Both of the previous announcements during his coaching tenure, in 2021 and 2019, came in late August, exactly 12 days before the Buckeyes were to open their seasons.
As the high-profile position battles lasted beyond spring practice, they continued for months of the offseason with little divulged about the pecking order among the passers, even as C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields were viewed as the favorites.
But the coming competition between junior Kyle Mccord and redshirt freshman Devin Brown to replace Stroud, who left for the NFL last month, could be on a faster timeline.
Day said he hopes one of them emerges in the weeks ahead and earns the right to be named the starter following spring
practice.
“The way that our dynamic is, it’d be great for our program to be able to do
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that,” Day said. “There were times in the past when I didn’t see that happening. I’m hoping that can happen. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t, but some vision on who the starter is coming out of spring would be nice.”
That apparent openness to picking a starting quarterback sooner rather than later only adds to the stakes of the 15 spring practices beginning on March 7. Will Mccord or Brown position himself to win the job?
Scholarship count
4: Mccord, Brown, Tristan Gebbia, Lincoln Kienholz. Not all of them will be available for spring practices as Kienholz, an incoming freshman from Pierre, South Dakota, does not enroll until summer.
Player to watch
If the quarterback competition is to be a close one, it will likely depend on the jump made by Brown in his second year with the program. Mccord has an additional year of experience, has been the backup for two seasons and started a game as a freshman in 2021 in place of Stroud. But Brown has the tools, including mobility and a capability of extending plays, to make a compelling case to start. That level of playmaking, if combined with increased knowledge of the system, could push Mccord for the job.
Coach comment
“They’re both different, but I think the intangibles for Ohio State right now is running the offense. It’s how you can be efficient and how you can be productive.
Those are two things we’re going to look for in this spring. Can you be those two things?” — Quarterbacks coach Corey
Dennis on expectations for Mccord and Brown.
Key stat
319: Passing yards by Mccord against Akron in 2021, the most-ever thrown by an OSU player in their first career start.
Final outlook
Quarterback has grown transient due to the easing of transfer rules by the NCAA, and the Buckeyes have in the past dipped into the transfer portal to find a starter when they brought in Fields in 2019 following his freshman season at Georgia. But Day’s preferred method to handling the position is recruiting and developing quarterbacks out of high school. It was the blueprint with Stroud, who was the backup for a season before taking over for Fields. Mccord and Brown are in line to follow a similar path.