Ohio State's quarterback battle features three different quarterbacks with noticeably different skill sets. Because of that, the mindset of some outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center is that the Buckeyes will have to make drastic changes to the offense or play calling in order to fit the talents of whoever wins the competition.
Co-offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson says otherwise.
Speaking to media at the WHAC on Wednesday, Wilson said that any changes made to Ohio State's offense will be minimal at best, and won't change the Buckeyes' playbook at all.
So what might those minor changes look like? Wilson said that the majority of the small tweaks will come from the quarterback position alone, so as to not confuse other players on the field and make them learn an entirely different offense based on who the quarterback might be.
"If you have one quarterback that does one offense and another that runs (a different) offense, well then when you're practicing, your first team and second team are running different deals," Wilson said. "They need to run the same plays. They need to learn the same stuff. Then all you do is emphasize what the quarterback can do."
The consensus analysis of the Ohio State quarterback battle is that Dwayne Haskins is the best pure passer, Tate Martell is the most effective runner and Joe Burrow is a combination of both.
With that, Wilson said the balance of Ohio State's offense won't change, but the reads for the quarterback, depending on who it is, might.
"I think you play to the strengths. The plays don't change. Now, instead of reading the end, we are blocking him and throwing a run-pass option. It will be a lot of the same running game and a lot of the same protections," Wilson said. "Maybe the protection doesn't change, but the route concepts that the (quarterback) is comfortable with – if certain guys throw certain concepts better, you emphasize those – but you still have to balance the field and attack the defense. In the run game, you still run the offense."
What could these minor changes look like? If you look back on film of Ohio State's win over Army last year, you might get a taste of what Wilson is talking about.
Should Haskins win the job, Ohio State's running game could have more quick passes in off of it, as seen in the play below with the film study added by our own Kyle Jones.
The play is a designed run, but with a pass option on the back end of it. The play call doesn't change, but the read for the quarterback does. Instead of reading the defensive end like a true read option, the read becomes the linebacker with a pass option instead of the quarterback simply pulling the ball and running.
"Are you design quarterback running? Are you reading the end and then pulling it? Or are you blocking and reading a second-level player, so it's more of an RPO? It's still the same offense, but the read has changed based on the strength of the quarterback," Wilson said. "I never thought it was that big of a deal because they are subtle tweaks."
If Tate Martell were to win the job, Ohio State would likely make the reads more traditional when it comes to the read option as to play to his skill set of running the ball.
Plays for Martell could look more similar to what you see below, where the primary read is the defensive end, but there is still an option to throw the ball if the receiver comes open or the QB run is taken away.
If Burrow is to take the job, a combination of the two could be used, as Burrow has proven himself to be both a capable runner and passer.
Regardless of who wins the job at quarterback, Wilson maintains that Ohio State's offense won't change, just some reads for the quarterback will. He compared it to playing Demario McCall at running back and finding ways to get him on the field, despite his struggles in pass blocking.
"For example a year ago, Demario McCall played tailback but wasn't a great pass blocker. Well, every time I had him in, I went with a five-man protection and he didn't have to block anybody. He was a route runner. He can't block that great, so make him a route runner. I didn't ask him to block a lot, to play to his strength," Wilson said. "The offense didn't change, I emphasized what that kid can do. So that is what we will do with these quarterbacks. Right now, we have to keep building them up, because we have a long way to go."
