Tate Martell's redshirt is officially gone, and we could have a quarterback controversy in Columbus.
After the departure of fifth-year senior J.T. Barrett, many assumed Dwayne Haskins would be the next man up. After all, Haskins has been No. 2 on the depth chart all season and led the Buckeyes to a comeback victory against Michigan after Barrett left the game with a knee injury.
Haskins is the easy favorite to win the job next year, but Martell isn't conceding that battle just yet.
Martell told Cleveland.com he plans to compete for that starting spot.
"I mean what else would I want?" [Martell] said. "I didn't come here to sit on the bench."
The fact that he wants to play is unsurprising. Nobody wants to sit the bench at this level of college football. What was interesting, though, is that Martell expects to see the field next year – possibly at a different position – even if he doesn't win the starting quarterback spot.
From Bill Landis of Cleveland.com:
Not the mop-up No. 2 role, which might already be his if Burrow does indeed graduate and transfer after this spring. We're talking about a real role within the offense for Martell regardless of who win wins the starting quarterback job.
"Yeah I think that regardless I'll be doing something on the field," Martell said. "Whether that's quarterback ... who knows what position? I've played a lot of them this year on scout. Definitely gonna go out and do my thing and try to stay with quarterback. That's what I want to do."
Martell has the speed and quickness to play most skill positions on the field, but it's difficult to see one in particular where he'd crack the depth chart as every position is deep with talent.
Still, with an athlete as talented as Martell, it's difficult to imagine Ohio State won't have packages designed to get him on the field in 2018, one way or another.
