Since Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal, the biggest question surrounding Ohio State’s roster for next season has been whether the Buckeyes will add a transfer quarterback to replace McCord.
Two weeks later, it doesn’t appear Ohio State is in any hurry to add a quarterback from the portal, potentially setting up a competition between Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and Air Noland for next year’s starting quarterback job.
While plenty of talented quarterbacks have entered the transfer portal over the past two weeks, Ohio State hasn’t emerged as a clear contender for any of them. The Buckeyes reportedly attempted to bring in former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard for an official visit, but he chose to transfer to Notre Dame. Former Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel was another quarterback who drew interest from the Buckeyes, but he transferred to Oregon.
Former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward is widely considered the top transfer quarterback available, but Ohio State hasn’t courted him aggressively, and he is expected to decide between Florida State and Miami after visiting both schools. Former Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei told ESPN that Ohio State reached out to one of his coaches, but that was the extent of his communication with the Buckeyes. There was speculation that Ohio State could pursue Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy if he entered the portal, but there’s been no indication of interest from the Buckeyes as Murphy instead made visits to Duke, South Carolina and Oregon State over the weekend.
Why hasn’t made Ohio State a stronger push to land a transfer quarterback? The biggest reason for that might simply be the fact that there isn’t a clear upgrade in the portal over the quarterbacks Ohio State already has on its roster.
With McCord now on his way to Syracuse, Ohio State does not have any known commodities on its roster at quarterback, but that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes lack talented quarterbacks.
Brown was ranked by On3 as the No. 1 overall prospect in the entire 2022 recruiting class, and he showed Ohio State enough last offseason that the starting quarterback competition continued into the first two weeks of the regular season. Kienholz was named by USA TODAY as the high school boys’ athlete of the year for 2022-23 and has drawn praise from Ryan Day for his development in his first year as a Buckeye. Noland is set to sign with Ohio State this week as a composite five-star recruit in the 2024 class.
Lincoln Kienholz is expected to compete with Devin Brown for Ohio State’s starting quarterback job next season.
Considering Ohio State does not currently have a quarterback who will be on its roster next season who has started a collegiate game, there’s a case to be made that the Buckeyes should still bring in a transfer to compete with those quarterbacks for the starting job. But bringing in any quarterback to potentially start could give Ohio State’s current quarterbacks reason to consider following McCord out the door – and could require arranging a significant NIL deal for the new quarterback – so the Buckeyes don’t want to take that risk for a QB they aren’t confident would be an upgrade.
There’s always the possibility Ohio State’s approach could change if the right quarterback becomes available, and intriguing options continued to enter the portal as recently as this weekend. Five-star prospect Malachi Nelson, the first quarterback to receive an offer from Ohio State in the 2023 recruiting class, entered the portal on Sunday after one year at USC, which is expected to bring in former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard – another quarterback who had his name connected to Ohio State but didn’t visit the Buckeyes. Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, who racked up more than 9,000 yards of total offense as a dual-threat three-year starter for the Razorbacks, is an experienced veteran who could be worthy of consideration after entering the portal Saturday.
What is evident from how Ohio State has approached the first two weeks of the winter transfer window – not only at quarterback but across all positions – is that the Buckeyes won’t force an addition if they aren’t sure it’s the right fit.
As it stands, there’s a strong possibility that Ohio State will start 2024 with the trio of Brown, Kienholz and Noland making up its roster of scholarship quarterbacks. There’s expected to be a competition between those quarterbacks in the spring – or at least between Brown and Kienholz as Noland gets acclimated to life as a college football player – though Brown could establish himself as the frontrunner for the job if he performs well against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, in which he’s expected to make his first career start.
“Devin and I sat down and talked about this. This is a great opportunity for Devin to take over this team and run with it,” Day said last week during an appearance on 97.1 The Fan. “I know he's very, very excited about that.”
How Brown performs in that game, and how both Brown and Kienholz perform throughout the next couple weeks of bowl practices, could determine whether the Buckeyes will be content to stick with what they have at quarterback or feel a need to increase their efforts to add a transfer. With another transfer window to come in April, Ohio State could also potentially have the opportunity to add a transfer quarterback then if it doesn’t see what it needs to see from Brown, Kienholz and/or Noland in spring practices.
All of those are reasons why Ohio State hasn’t rushed to add a transfer quarterback yet and may not do so at all – at least not in terms of a potential starter, as it’s likely the Buckeyes will at least look to add a veteran backup for depth purposes like they did this past offseason with Tristan Gebbia and previously did with Gunnar Hoak in 2019 and Chris Chugunov in 2018.
Competing for championships is always the expectation while elite quarterback play has become the expectation at Ohio State, and it’s uncertain right now whether the Buckeyes have a quarterback who can meet those standards in 2024. But their lack of aggressiveness in pursuing transfer quarterbacks relative to many other programs over the past two weeks suggests they have a belief that at least one of their current quarterbacks can get there.
