The winner of Ohio State's QB competition gets to lead a national title contender while having the most reasonable performance expectations for that position since 2014.
He'll get a defense which will allow no more than 12 points a game, even after accounting for garbage time leakage. He'll get the keys to an offense where clean hand-offs and catchable dump-offs should comfortably win eight of the Buckeyes' 12 scheduled games.
It's a program now officially divorced from any entitlement aura since nobody on the roster has ever won anything of significance in college - which means the winner of Ohio State's QB competition should get the hungriest Ohio State team since the short-changed 2020 edition. It's very exciting! No pressure, lads.
Not since the job landed in redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett's lap after Braxton Miller's fall camp injury has a quarterback with this program inherited such reasonable expectations. You don't have to go to Manhattan in December, lads. Just get the ball to any one of your half-dozen winning options.
The Buckeyes have a quintet from which to choose. It's May. Let's cut through the pleasantries.
The Big Interloper
Will Howard waves to fans following the Ohio State LifeSports spring football game at Ohio Stadium. © Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Will Howard | Grad Student | Downingtown, PA
- Official Measurables: 6'4" 237 lbs
- Arrived in Columbus via: Graduate transfer from Kansas State
- Unfair Kyle McCord comparison: Played high school football 45 minutes from McCord.
- Recruiting profile: A 3-star recruit in the class of 2020. The 33rd-ranked QB in the country chose Kansas State over offers from Rutgers, Maryland, Kansas, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Harvard and Yale.
- Cynical take: If he had Cardale Jones' arm and Barrett's moxie, he could be something special. But it appears he has Jones' moxie and Barrett's arm. And this ain't the Big XII, brother.
- Idealist take: He's been to Manhattan in December in each of his four collegiate seasons, where his top receiving target would be distributing water bottles on Ohio State's sideline. He's going to be throwing to aliens now while lining up next to NFL running backs.
Situational take: Finally, Ohio State gets in on the Senior Citizen quarterback bonanza which has eluded the program since the trend began. Howard was the top transfer QB on both Ryan Day and Lincoln Riley's offseason procurement lists. Choosing-McCord-over-lifelong-OSU-fan-McCarthy notwithstanding, those two tend to evaluate that position better than anyone reading this.
His arm should be just fine, in a season where just fine glides into the Playoff. His ability to squeeze taxing yards out of short yardage plays fills a gap that's been sorely missing, and he should benefit greatly from Chip Kelly reupholstering the stalest run game coaching in the conference. All of his planets have aligned.
And he's got just one season in town. No odds, no promises, no wagering - Howard will be Ohio State's starting QB when that announcement is made. But the 2024 Buckeyes will also mark the beginning of a sea change for actually playing depth instead of keeping it glued to the sideline in 2nd halves while up comfortably.
Which means Those Who Stay Should Will Live Game Reps. Let's continue.
The Boat Burner
Devin Brown (33) runs toward the goal line and Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Abdul Carter (11) during the second half of the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium. Brown was stopped short and injured on the play. © Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Devin Brown | Junior | Draper, UT
- Official Measurables: 6'3" 212 lbs
- Arrived in Columbus via: Corner Canyon High School
- Unfair Kyle McCord comparison: Lost last year's QB competition to McCord.
- Recruiting profile: A 4-star recruit in the class of 2022. The 5th-ranked QB in the country chose Ohio State over offers from Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal and Iowa State.
- Cynical take: No one benefits more from wearing a no-contact jersey.
- Idealist take: You know who threw the single-best ball of the 2023 season? Let's jog your memory.
Devin Brown with a DIME for the TD @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/msAIzpZjKb
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 16, 2023
Situational take: In the absence of Howard, this is the type of team Brown is capable of taking desired places - he has too many options available to make him too dirty or battered. A situation like C.J. Stroud's in 2022 when the entire running back room was hurt would be untenable.
He doesn't see the field well enough to carry the offense on his back, and he hasn't absorbed punishment well - Brown's propensity for injuries is the kind of confirmation bias that keeps Day holding back the QB run. In a world where Brown is starting, there's a good chance he's instructed to release rarely if ever.
Brown would have benefited from Day's direct tutelage last season instead of being largely relegated to the babysitting pen with the then-pretend QB coach (not hating; Jim Tressel did this with Nick Siciliano and it works well unless your starter is bad or you get fired amidst a poorly-aged scandal).
If he allows the game to come to him instead of running into its teeth, he's perfectly serviceable. If he's gotten stronger and less injury prone since we last saw him hobbling around in motion during the Cotton Bowl, then he might even be just fine.
The Throwa from Dakota
Lincoln Kienholz almost gets sacked by Missouri Tigers defensive back Daylan Carnell (13) before throwing the ball away in the second quarter during the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. © Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Lincoln Kienholz | Sophomore | Pierre, SD
- Official Measurables: 6'3" 207 lbs
- Arrived in Columbus via: T.F. Riggs High School
- Unfair Kyle McCord comparison: Lost last year's QB competition to McCord, as a true freshman.
- Recruiting profile: A 4-star recruit in the class of 2023. The 11th ranked QB in the country flipped from Washington and chose Ohio State.
- Cynical take: There shouldn't be one Dakota, let alone two. And that's not where QBs come from.
- Idealist take: Three-time state championship game MVP. He was also the USAToday Athlete of the Year for 2022-23, which means he was chosen ahead of the other 48 states and the unnecessary Dakota. The only state you should be hating is due north of Ohio.
Situational take: The only thing you should ever take from the Cotton Bowl was that it was the worst non-Michigan game coaching performance of Day's career, and whatever they were trying to do with the offensive line was Hello Kitty-cute. Everything else from that evening doesn't have to matter, apologies to Jack Sawyer.
Take the Ohio State quarterback of your choosing over the past decade and try to reconcile a better performance than Kienholz's 6/17 for 86 yards without Marvin Harrison under those circumstances, where the staff clearly didn't trust the line that it put in position to fail - and then asked Brown and then Kienholz to do the impossible.
He has the highest floor of the non-Howard quarterbacks. Take him for granted at your peril. Hopefully we'll get the chance to see him behind an FBS-level OL sometime this season.
Sunshine from Remember the Titans, Basically
Julian Sayin runs the football for the scarlet team while pursued by defensive end Josh Mickens (52) of the gray team during the first half of the LifeSports spring football game at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. © Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Julian Sayin | Freshman | Carlsbad, CA
- Official Measurables: 6'1" 203 lbs
- Arrived in Columbus via: Alabama transfer, following Nick Saban's retirement.
- Unfair Kyle McCord comparison: Career OSU Spring Game Most Passing Yards: Sayin 1, McCord 0
- Recruiting profile: A 5-star recruit in the class of 2024. The top QB in the country chose Alabama over a slew of other programs before moving all of his stuff to Columbus.
- Cynical take: Huge upside but needs to gain weight and experience. If he can figure out how to grow 2-3 inches taller that would be helpful too.
- Idealist take: The top quarterback prospect in the country. He does e v e r y t h i n g well.
Situational take: We've got some Quinn Ewers vibes from the forgotten era when no one was curious enough to examine the kombucha-soaked path he was navigating. It's the kind of QB talent Ohio State just didn't get prior to the current era of Ohio State QB recruiting - three of the top four guys in Sayin's class all committed to the Buckeyes at one point. Dylan Riola was first and the other guy is up next.
If Kienholz has the highest floor, Sayin has the highest ceiling. He's should benefit from an extremely comfortable one-year internship in a crowded room before making a play at a two-year stint leading the program with every expectation of making an NYC appearance in December.
Prentiss "Air" Noland
Air Noland scrambles during the 2nd half of the Ohio State LifeSports spring football game at Ohio Stadium. © Garrick Hodge/Eleven Warriors
Air Noland | Freshman | Fairburn, GA
- Official Measurables: 6'2" 192 lbs
- Arrived in Columbus via: Langston Hughes High School
- Unfair Kyle McCord comparison: They're both classic pro-style quarterbacks
- Recruiting profile: A 4-star recruit in the class of 2024. The 4th-ranked QB in the country chose Ohio State over Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas among others.
- Cynical take: He's a lefty and the staff threw itself at Sayin after he was already signed.
- Idealist take: He has the smoothest, steadiest and most unbothered pocket presence since Dwayne Haskins. Go ahead and pretend he's not going to be elite.
Situational take: The ball just flies out his hand, man. No windup, no awkward motion, he just opens his palm and passes dotted-line themselves to a precise location of his choosing. Noland's vibe is first-year starting Stroudish without the try-hard vibe.
He's played, like, one quarter of a college scrimmage yeah I know. I have a bad habit of falling in love with Ohio State quarterbacks after seeing them for two minutes in a spring game.
Ohio State won't be able to retain both Noland and Sayin beyond 2026, which gives them both two full seasons with proper, non-nepo hire coaching to develop into The Guy as Tavien St. Clair makes his way down from Bellefontaine. This is the problem to have.
As for this year, if we get to see all five of these guys play - especially with no upside for developing Howard beyond 2024 - then you can thank Jim Knowles for his service.
