The Eleven Warriors Web Report comes to you weekly from the Spectrum Sports studios in downtown Columbus, featuring our own Beau Bishop, Dan Hope and James Grega.
As you might expect, Ohio State's quarterback competition was the central topic of conversation once again on this week's show, as our panel discussed how the race could stack up following Saturday's spring game.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said all spring that there was little separation in the competition between Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow and Tate Martell, and that appears to still be the case – at least between Haskins and Burrow. While Haskins entered spring as the presumptive favorite, and seemingly hasn't done anything to lose the job, Burrow made a strong case of his own for being the starting quarterback with his performance on Saturday.
Hope agreed with Bishop, though, that it's time for Meyer and the Ohio State coaching staff to make a decision on who their starting quarterback will be – even though they'd probably to continue the competition into fall camp – because they owe an answer to Burrow, who has said that he will consider a graduate transfer if he does not win the starting job.
"I don't think there's an obvious answer here, and I think that's why we haven't heard anything yet," Hope said in regards to the competition between Haskins and Burrow. "But I do agree, I think they are going to have to make some sort of decision this week, because when they have exit interviews with these quarterbacks, they do need to be honest with Joe Burrow about whether he's got a chance to be the starting quarterback of this team."
Grega said it is crucial for the Buckeyes to make a decision now not only so that they can be fair to Burrow and the other quarterbacks, but also so that they can allow the starting quarterback to establish himself as a leader of the offense and build the offense around that quarterback.
"This is a position where you've got to have leadership, and this is a position where the team needs to know who they're going to be with," Grega said. "So I think you need to make a decision here in the next week – is it Joe, is it Dwayne – so that way your team, not only the players but the coaching staff, knows how are we going to run this offense, what's this offense going to look like when he comes in the first day of fall camp."
While Martell appears unlikely to win the starting quarterback job, as Haskins and Burrow appear to be significantly ahead of him as passers at this point, Ohio State's offense is in need of more playmakers to step up, and our panel believes there will be a package that allows Martell to have a role in the offense, take advantage of his running ability and be one of those playmakers.
"I think regardless of who wins the starting quarterback job – whether it's Haskins, whether it's Burrow – they're going to have a set package of plays for Martell to get him on the field," Grega said.
Another player who showed the potential to be a playmaker for Ohio State's offense in Saturday's spring game was Demario McCall, who caught 11 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the scrimmage. It's not the first time McCall has flashed his playmaking ability, and it remains unclear what his role in the Buckeyes offense could be. Our guys agreed, though, that he offers a skill set that could provide a spark to the Buckeyes offense, and so they need to find a way to utilize it.
"You saw what Curtis Samuel did for this offense a couple years ago. They didn't have that last year, and Demario McCall is the closest thing they have on the roster," Hope said. "So you've got to think, all these offensive minds ... they should be able to figure out a role for Demario McCall in this offense."
For more analysis on how the quarterback competition could end up, what the offense could be like with each quarterback and on who else could emerge as playmakers for the Buckeyes, tune into this week's episode of the Eleven Warriors Report on Spectrum Sports Mid-Ohio, premiering at 7 p.m. Tuesday and re-airing at various times throughout the week.
