Ohio State's QBs are long on talent but short on depth and experience; I thought it might be interesting to see how the Buckeyes' opponents' QBs stack up.
Ohio State will open the season against the three R's: FAU's Chris Robison, UC's Desmond Ridder, and Indiana's Peyton Ramsey. All three are experienced quarterbacks who threw for at least 2,400 yards and completed at least 62% of their attempts and should give our defense solid tests. UC, in particular, is coming off an 11-2 season and Luke Fickell would love to end Ohio State's winning streak against in-state schools. Ridder's mobility will make him doubly dangerous.
Miami (Ohio) will come into the Shoe lacking experience. Former Michigan QB Alex Malzone, who never took a snap while he was in Ann Arbor, is the most experienced but only by the narrowest of margins--last year, he threw only four passes, all incompletions. It's probably a toss up who they're trot out there against the Buckeyes.
After the RedHawks, the Buckeyes travel to Nebraska to wage battle against sophomore Adrian Martinez, who put up 3,246 yards of total offense last year. He had seven games with 250+ passing yards.
MSU's Brian Lewerke and Wisconsin's Alex Hornibrook both had sub-par seasons last year and, in my opinion, each has hit his ceiling. It seems unlikely, though, that Paul Chryst will bench Hornibrook for true freshman Graham Mertz but junior Jack Coan got valuable game experience and put up decent stats when Hornibrook was injured and might give him a fight. Mark Dantonio, on the other hand, doesn't really have anyone better than Lewerke.
Northwestern's top returning QB is senior T.J. Green, Trent Green's son. Former 5-star Hunter Johnson will be in the mix after transferring from Clemson and sitting out last year. I'm not convinced he's not the next Shane Morris; the difference could be that Pat Fitzgerald isn't Brady Hoke or Jim Harbaugh.
Chris Ash has overhauled Rutgers' staff; the problem is the coaches can't play in the games. Former 3-star Johnny Langan returns home to New Jersey via the transfer portal after one season at Boston College. TBD if he's eligible but even if he is, things look pretty bleak along the banks of the Old Raritan.
Penn State lacks experience, which is ironic considering Fields would be playing for PSU instead of Ohio State if he'd stuck with his commitment to the Nittany Lions; that will likely be one of the storylines heading into that match-up. Sean Clifford is the better QB but Tommy Stevens is the better athlete.
And, of course, we'll close against Shea Patterson in The Game in the B1G Outhouse.
