CURRENT ROSTER
#6 Kyle McCord, Junior: After sitting behind CJ Stroud for the past two seasons, McCord is the expected player to replace him this coming season. High School teammate of Marvin Harrison Jr, McCord arrived a highly touted QB in the 2021 class.
- 2021 Composite 5-Star #28, QB #6
- High School Stats: 6887 yds, 88 tds
- HS State Champion
- 1 Career Start vs Akron: 319 yds, 2 tds
#33 Devin Brown, R-Freshman: The biggest competition for starting quarterback. Brown was a very successful high school QB who started under the tutelage of Joe Germaine at Queen Creek in Arizona.
- 2022 Composite 4-Star #43, QB #6
- High School Stats: nearly 8000 yds, 85 tds (Arizona & Utah)
- Senior Year (Draper, UT): 4881 pass yds, 57 tds + 430 rush yds, 8 tds
- Injured his finger in Spring practice requiring surgery.
#15 Tristan Gebbia, Graduate: Tristan is a graduate transfer in his 7th year of college. While he should be the 3rd QB on the depth chart this season, his main motivation for joining Ohio State was to learn to be a coach from Ryan Day & Co. He began his college career at Nebraska in 2017 before transferring to Oregon State where he graduated with a degree in Sociology.
- 2017 Composite 4-Star #200, QB #9
- High School Stats: 13,109 yds (#2 in California History), 141 tds
#12 Lincoln Kienholtz, Freshman: Lincoln has just joined the team this summer but has already received much attention for his presence on campus.
- 2023 Composite 4-Star #189, QB #15
- High School Stats: 9,100 yds, 104 tds
- 3 time State Champion, named MVP of all 3 games
- South Dakota high school’s all time leader in passing yards
2023 OUTLOOK
As long as Ryan Day is the head coach of Ohio State we should expect high level play and recruiting at the QB position. The last 3 starters have all been drafted in Round 1. To say that there is immense pressure to uphold the standards set would be an understatement, but this is why a player chooses to come to Ohio State.
If the offensive line ends up being shaky this coming season, the Quarterback position is all that more crucial for poise and efficiency. Much talk came about last season due to CJ’s lack of running. Behind an experienced offensive line we were winning most games easily and CJ had all day to throw. The next guy may not be afforded that luxury. As proved by the Georgia game, being mobile and at least being a threat with your legs is something incredibly difficult for an opposing team to stop. If the line play struggles, we will need to see a willingness to move the pocket and attack with the QB run if we want to avoid critical loss of yards plays.
However, with the returning weapons at Wide Receiver, Running Back, and Tight End, there will be no excuses for a top ranked offense to not return to form. Because of this there has been a lot of conjecture that McCord could potentially be headed straight to the NFL with one good season. This offense has been predicated on a devastating aerial assault. Whomever is the starter will need to be accurate and deadly to live up to expectations.
THE FUTURE
As mentioned, the recruiting at QB is at an all time high for the program. Ryan Day and Corey Dennis have garnered a reputation as the best in the business. No signs they are slowing, as Air Noland and Tavion St. Clair have already commited for the 2024 and 2025 classes respectively. Both are expected to be near the top of their classes when all is said and done.
Barring an absolute disaster, 2024 should see either the return of Kyle McCord for another year or the mantel set for Devin Brown in his 3rd season. As some have further imagined, there exists a scenario where Ohio State has a “1-&-Done” QB for the foreseeable future. McCord in 2023, Brown 2024, Kienholtz 2025, etc.
Are you comfortable with where the Quarterback room is? Has the losses of Quinn Ewers & Dillon Raiola left a bad taste in your mouth? How do you feel the future will unfold for our signal callers?
I have enjoyed doing this deep dive into the quarterbacks. I would be happy to do other positions. Let me know in the comments if you liked this and would like to see more.
