The Ohio State quest to return to the College Football Playoff began in earnest Tuesday, as the Buckeyes opened spring practice ahead of the 2023 college football season. With multiple changes — including at the quarterback position — all eyes were on the offense as Ryan Day‘s team got down to work.
Ohio State Begins Spring Practice
Change. It’s the very nature of college football. Every four years — realistically three years when you’re home to some of the most talented players in the nation — you need to reset at several of the game’s most important positions.
For Ohio State, the 2023 college football campaign will be that season in many respects. The Buckeyes’ starting quarterback for the past two seasons is gone, and their offensive line has been obliterated.
The times, they are a’changing in Columbus. As a result, the eyes of the CFB world are on Ohio State’s offense as the Buckeyes begin spring training camp.
There are many questions, mainly led by what promises to be one of the most exciting spring football QB competitions that we’ll see at any program in the nation. Following the first spring session on Tuesday, head coach Ryan Day attempted to answer some of the questions that are on the tip of many tongues.
Kyle McCord vs. Devin Brown QB Battle
A two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and potential No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, C.J. Stroud leaves some significant shoes to fill. Over the past two seasons, he’s thrown over 8,000 yards and 85 touchdowns, completing 69.3% of his passes with just 12 interceptions.
Despite being the heir apparent to Justin Fields, Stroud faced his own questions and dug deep to find the answers. Now, that burden of responsibility seemingly falls on either Kyle McCord or Devin Brown. Considered a two-horse race, Day was quick to point out that there aren’t just two quarterbacks in Columbus.
“This is the first time that we’ve had three quarterbacks,” Day referred to the quarterback session in his post-practice media availability. “And, we’ll have a fourth one coming in the summer. I can’t remember, it’s been a while since we’ve had that many quarterbacks in on scholarship.”
A former five-star QB recruit out of St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, McCord appears to be the front-runner for the job. The son of a former Rutgers QB, he has football in the blood and more experience in his favor. Heading into his third year with the Buckeyes, the 6’3″, 222-pound passer has attempted 58 passes, completing 70.7% for 606 yards at an average of 10.4 per pass.
Brown, a four-star in the 2022 recruit class, who led Corner Canyon to the state championship game as a senior, threw just one pass in his true freshman season as he sat behind Stroud and McCord. Don’t be allowed to think that the pecking order automatically shifts up one with the departure of QB1, however.
“Those guys are going to compete, get a bunch of reps,” Day reflected on the QB battle in spring practice. “We’re running three groups right now, so there’s a lot of reps to go around. It’s just the first couple of days here, then we’ll go on break, and then we’ll come back and really dig in.”
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Long story short, the opening salvo of spring practices wasn’t the place to provide any significant answers about who the Ohio State starter will be for the 2023 season. Day confirmed, however, that the picture will become clearer sooner rather than later as spring turns to summer camps.
“Quickly, as we get back from spring break, there’ll be a lot of competitive situations, winner/loser days.”
Both quarterbacks sound enthused by the situation and ready to compete. McCord and Brown met with the media in the wake of the first spring practice, with a similar theme permeating through their poised and professional responses.
“No matter who wins, we’re going to keep pushing each other every week,” Brown was the first to respond. “That’s how we’ve been every practice.”
“We knew how this was going to shape out, with the competition,” McCord followed up. We’ve been going at it all offseason. It’s a healthy competition and healthy relationship, so I’m excited.”
McCord and Brown are joined in the Ohio State QB battle by Tristan Gebbia and Lincoln Kienholz. Gebbia comes over from Oregon State, with 200 pass attempts on his college football résumé. Meanwhile, Kienholz — the 158th overall prospect in the CFN Fusion recruiting rankings — will enter the fray when he finishes out his high school basketball season.
Marvin Harrison Jr. Returning Punts
While there’s uncertainty at the QB position to open spring practice, there’s no uncertainty about the depth of talent at wide receiver. Led by Marvin Harrison Jr., the WR unit is bursting with electric playmakers, even if neither Emeka Egbuka nor Julian Fleming is taking part in spring practices.
Egbuka was Ohio State’s primary punt returner last fall, returning 11 punts for 75 yards. In his absence, Harrison — the potential WR1 of the 2024 NFL Draft — found himself in an unusual situation at the start of spring practices.
“With Emeka not going this spring, we’re going to put a bunch of guys back there,” Day said of Harrison’s punt-return reps.
“Always looking to build depth there, at returner. He’s been doing it a little bit in practice. He’s got really good depth perception, so if we need him back there, we’ll use him. I thought he did a nice job.”
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From Day’s perspective, the experience can prove mutually beneficial.
“We moved him around today, did a bunch of things with him. We want him to grow as well. We don’t want to be just the same old stuff for Marv. We’re going to try and build his tools and his package.”
A revolving door of the who’s who of high school recruits due to their reputation for developing elite WR talent under Brian Hartline, Ohio State welcomed four four-star recruits in 2022 — Kojo Antwi, Caleb Burton, Kyion Grayes, and Kaleb Brown.
With the trio of Harrison, Fleming, and Egbuka expected to be ready to go for the start of the season, opportunities to impress for the second-year pass catchers could be few and far between.
The reality is, a 2023 class made up of Brandon Inniss, Noah Rogers, Carnell Tate, and Bryson Rodgers, could apply more pressure to the 2022 crop than those second years do to the established starters.
“The truth is, they’re really going to get pushed by this freshman group,” Day explains. “The three guys that came in have already made an impact, we’ve been impressed by them, and then you have Brandon coming in over the summer. This is a very, very big spring for them.”
Offensive Line Overhaul
Whoever wins the upcoming QB battle to be Ohio State’s starter will have a plethora of pass-catching options to lean on, but a raft of offensive line departures could prove pivotal to their 2023 success.
Both bookends in Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones are bound for the NFL, as is starting center Luke Wypler. As Day admits, it’s one area where there needs to be substantial focus throughout the spring.
“Offensive line, there’s certainly some guys that we’ve got to replace. That’s an area we’ve got to focus on.”
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Johnson is a particularly huge presence to replace, both on and off the field. The opening practice of spring football appeared to provide an answer as to how those shoes might be filled for the 2023 campaign.
“We moved Josh [Fryar] to left. We feel like he’s got enough experience. He felt comfortable making that move. We’ll see how that goes. Watching him move his feet was really good.
“First day, it’s hard to tell, but I don’t think anyone looked out of place,” Day finished up his assessment of the offensive line. “We’re going to get a great evaluation as we go through 15 practices.”
