It appears Ohio State has its QB1 for the 2024 season, and his play style will be a bit different than the Buckeyes' starting quarterbacks over the last three years.
While Ryan Day and company won't likely name Will Howard as Ohio State's starting quarterback for the 2024 season until the spring or even the fall, the Kansas State transfer isn't coming to Columbus to be a backup in his fifth (and final) year of eligibility.
We all know how the 2023 season came to a sputtering end, as the Buckeyes lost their final two games of the season for the second consecutive year. Kyle McCord was 11-1, but threw two costly interceptions in Ohio State's biggest game of the season, its third straight loss to Michigan. That performance and loss seemed to begin a domino effect, one that ended with McCord transferring to Syracuse. That, paired with Ohio State's brutal performance offensively in its 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl and the struggles of both Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz, pushed the Buckeyes were add a new starting quarterback through the transfer portal. Six days after that dreadful performance in Arlington, Texas, Howard committed to Ohio State.
With that in mind, we compare McCord's 2023 season to Howard's performance throughout this past year. Howard will be the favorite to be behind center for OSU's 2024 season opener on Aug. 31 against Akron next fall and the fifth-year senior will be a veteran in a quarterback room that currently consists of Howard, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and Air Noland. With plenty of potential in that room, the Buckeyes' success, at least offensively, could lean heavily on Howard in his first (and only) season in Columbus.
"The goal I have, I want to go win a national championship," Howard told ESPN's Pete Thamel. "At the end of the day, I want to go be a starting quarterback in the NFL ... I feel like the best place to stick as a quarterback in the NFL is as a first or second-round pick in the NFL Draft. Going to Ohio State gives me a chance to make a jump and leap into that conversation."
At a glance, Howard is a more athletic, less accurate version of McCord, at least in his four years at Kansas State. The 6-foot-5, 242-pounder completed 219-of-357 passes (61.3%) for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023. He added 351 yards and nine touchdowns on 81 rushing attempts. McCord, meanwhile, completed 229-of-348 passes (65.8%) for 3,170 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions but finished the year with a net loss of 65 rushing yards (including sacks).
Will Howard during the 2023 season: pic.twitter.com/zaVHwdTFUI
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) January 4, 2024
Howard's ability to be a dual-threat quarterback brings another dimension to Ohio State's offense, one that it didn't have this past season with McCord. At the very least, the threat of Howard running the ball will force defenses to worry about that aspect of his game, even if it doesn't come to fruition all of the time.
A 6-foot-5, 242-pound quarterback with 27 career starts, 5,786 passing yards and 921 rushing yards that can do this?
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) January 5, 2024
Im intrigued. pic.twitter.com/pwZ3IICqyM
Let's compare Howard's stats to McCord's during the 2023 season:
| Stat | Howard | McCord |
|---|---|---|
| Completion Percentage | 61.3% | 65.8% |
| Passing Yards | 2,643 | 3,170 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 24 | 24 |
| Interceptions | 10 | 6 |
| Yards Per Attempt | 7.4 | 9.1 |
| Rating | 140.1 | 161.6 |
| Carries | 81 | 32 |
| Rushing Yards | 351 | -65 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 9 | 0 |
In a back-and-forth thriller against Texas on Nov. 14, Howard completed 26-of-41 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Against Missouri, the only common opponent in Kansas State's schedule for Ohio State, the quarterback completed 25-of-39 passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
While Howard will need to improve his efficiency, having much better receivers in Columbus than he did in Manhattan, Kansas could play a role in that. Kansas State's receiving corps was led by tight end Ben Sinnott, who finished with 49 catches for 676 yards and six touchdowns. The Wildcats had just one wide receiver with more than 450 receiving yards. Howard struggled when throwing the ball deep, but that was partially due to the talent on the outside. While he must improve in that area going forward, having a stacked group of receivers at Ohio State should certainly help with that.
| Depth (Yards) | Howard | McCord |
|---|---|---|
| 20+ | 15/46 (32.6%), 452 yards, 6 TDs, 4 INTs | 24/48 (50%), 909 yards, 6 TDs |
| 10-19 | 43/78 (55.1%), 789 yards, 6 TDs, 4 INTs | 43/91 (47.3%), 776 yards, 6 TDs, 5 INTs |
| 0-9 | 117/159 (73.6%), 1,043 yards, 7 TDs, 2 INTs | 121/146 (82.9%), 1,166 yards, 11 TDs, 1 INT |
| Behind los | 43/46 (93.5%), 346 yards, 4 TDs | 41/48 (85.4%), 318 yards, 1 TD |
Howard was more efficient than McCord on intermediate throws 10-19 yards past the line of scrimmage but was less efficient on throws of 20-plus yards and 0-9 yards downfield. But with receivers such as Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, Jeremiah Smith and possibly Emeka Egbuka, among others, in the fold for the Buckeyes next season, there's a very good chance that Howard could have his most accurate season in his collegiate career next fall.
While Howard was less efficient than McCord overall, the Downingtown, Pennsylvania native performed better than the former Buckeye under pressure and when blitzed. Given Ohio State's struggles along the offensive line this past season, Howard being more efficient in that area could be important for the Buckeyes to reach their full potential offensively next season.
| Pressure | Howard | McCord |
|---|---|---|
| Kept clean | 172/256 (67.2%), 2,075 yards, 15 TDs, 6 INTs | 198/275 (72%), 2,782 yards, 22 TDs, 3 INTs |
| under pressure | 46/102 (45.1%), 555 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs | 31/79 (39.2%), 387 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs |
| not blitzed | 135/224 (60.3%), 1,565 yards, 10 TDs, 8 INTs | 151/215 (70.2%), 2,137 yards, 14 TDs, 4 INTs |
| when blitzed | 83/134 (61.9%), 1,065 yards, 13 TDs, 2 INTs | 78/139 (56.1%), 1,032 yards, 10 TDs, 2 INTs |
Another part of Howard's passing game that Ohio State could take advantage is play-action passes. On 108 dropbacks (28.4%), he completed 65-of-103 passes (63.1%) for 973 yards (9.4 yards per attempt), 15 touchdowns and four interceptions on play-action passes in 2023. Comparatively, McCord had 117 such dropbacks (31.4%) on play-action plays and completed 78-of-112 passes (69.6%) for 1,166 yards (10.4 yards per attempt), nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
There's no doubt that Howard's legs could be a difference-maker in 2024. Whether it's RPO, scrambles, or any other running play as a quarterback, his running ability will give opposing defenses something to not only worry about and prepare for, but also open up the field for Ohio State's receivers as well. While he had a career-high 351 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 2023, Howard has totaled 226 carries for 921 yards (4.1 yards per carry) for 19 touchdowns in his four-year career with the Wildcats.
The last time the Buckeyes had a quarterback run for that many yards was in 2020, when Justin Fields notched 81 carries for 383 yards and five touchdowns in three games. In three seasons since then, Ohio State's starting quarterbacks have garnered just 111 carries for 23 yards and not a single touchdown.
Whether or not Day will be calling plays for Ohio State's offense in 2024 remains in question, as the Buckeyes could move those duties to someone else on the coaching staff, but either way, OSU's offense should look different next season with Howard at quarterback than it has over the last three years. And that might not be a bad thing.
