It’s hard to get more instantaneous than Neimann Lawrence’s answer when asked who his favorite Ohio State quarterback of the Ryan Day era is.
“C.J. Stroud,” Lawrence interjected as the question was proposed at Ohio State’s final one-day recruiting camp on Wednesday.
The 2028 quarterback prospect is early in his recruiting journey but already attuned to the lore of great Buckeye signal callers under Ryan Day. He’s an early name to watch in the sophomore class as Ohio State seeks to extend that lineage.
“For the past five or six years, they've had the best quarterbacks come out of here,” Lawrence said. “Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud, Dwayne Haskins. So just the QB development and the quarterbacks they have helped raise to the next level is definitely what stands out for me.”
Lawrence said his ability to make every throw on the field and confidence are the calling cards of his game, adding that confidence comes from experience. That might seem counterintuitive for a player entering his sophomore year of high school football, but he’s been quarterbacking at the varsity level since the eighth grade.
As a freshman at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Florida, Lawrence completed 64.3% of his passes for 2,777 yards and 31 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. That’s 11 yards per pass attempt. It’s no wonder he already holds an Ohio State offer alongside ones from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas, among others.
Lawrence’s talents were on full display at the Buckeyes’ recruiting camp, where the 6-1, 202-pound youngster stood out physically and in his throwing against multiple other quarterbacks with Power Four offers.
“Today was great, being able to work out with Coach Fessler and Coach Hartline during the day,” Lawrence said. “You can really see how they focus on development and really looking for the right thing and working.”
Day got involved in some hands-on coaching with Lawrence as well, with the prospect saying the coaching staff helped him drill down on some “mechanical things” to improve his quarterbacking.
“I can tell that there’s reason for the success that those quarterbacks have had,” Lawrence said. “Just being here for the past two hours with them, I know I had to come up here and get some work with these guys. They're very hard on you, and I can tell that they'll get everything out of you.”
"For the past five or six years, they've had the best quarterbacks come out of here."– Neimann Lawrence on Ohio State
More than just Stroud’s game – Lawrence says he wants to replicate Stroud’s poise in the pocket and accuracy throwing the ball – it’s the current Houston player’s story coming up as an unheralded recruit and his ability to shut out negative noise that inspires.
“Coming up from high school, just being an underrated guy and then going to the Elite 11, performing at the Elite 11, and then coming here,” Lawrence said. “I remember watching this story where he said that in the first half of his first start, he did pretty bad. Checked social media, saw all the things they were saying, went out second half and had a great game. So that was my favorite story.”
Lawrence is close friends with an elite sophomore receiver also in Ohio State’s crosshairs, Eric McFarland, who also camped in Columbus on Wednesday. There’s been talk of them playing together in college.
“Right now, those conversations are a little early for us, but we're definitely mapping out the schools that we see ourselves playing together at,” Lawrence said.
Rankings for the sophomore class are still to be released, but Lawrence is likely to be near the top of them as quarterbacks go. He’ll have a shot to follow in Stroud’s footsteps if he so chooses.
