There’s no obvious choice to be Ohio State’s starting quarterback in 2023 even though both Devin Brown and Kyle McCord have top-tier potential. As for who will come out on top in the QB battle, Kirk Herbstreit had an interesting prediction.
Speaking to On3 Sports, Herbstreit actually predicted that Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will split reps between the two quarterbacks during the regular season. He thinks it might take two or three games of Brown and McCord playing meaningful games before Day makes a final decision.
“I think he’ll go into summer camp, they’ll have those scrimmages. And then I wouldn’t be shocked if they used the first two or three games to let these guys play it out. It’s hard to make a big decision like that from a scrimmage in the summer. It’s only fair. Like what Jim Harbaugh did last year. Give a guy a half or a game, give the other guy the same thing then I think it’s easier to make the decision,” Herbstreit said.
Last year Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh did something similar, giving quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and cade McNamara reps in the first few games until McCarthy distinguished himself. They went on to win the Big Ten and reach the College Football Playoff as a 13-0 team.
2023 marks the first time in recent memory that Ohio State has real uncertainty at quarterback. Outside of injuries throwing a wrench into things, the Buckeyes have had a pretty clear line of succession at quarterback for over a decade.
After losing to arch-rival Michigan and falling out of Big Ten title contention in back-to-back years, 2023 will be the year that Ryan Day absolutely has to get the team on track.
Who will emerge as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback this season?