Skull Session: Ohio State Could Add a Transfer QB, Marvin Harrison Jr. and TreVeyon Henderson Wish Kyle McCord The Best and Former Buckeyes Are Up For Walter Payton Man of the Year

By Chase Brown on December 6, 2023 at 5:00 am
Cam Ward
James Snook – USA TODAY Sports
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

C.J. Stroud – still good at football.

Let's have a good Wednesday, shall we?

 TRANSFER SZN? When Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal on Monday, the entire fleet of Ohio State football media ran articles about who the Buckeyes could secure from the portal as his replacement.

Eleven Warriors was one of them.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Tom VanHaaren ranked the top 40 players currently in the transfer portal. Many of them were quarterbacks. Of those signal-callers, almost all of them were named in our article posted on Monday. Here is how VanHaaren ranked them:

No. 1 - Dillon Gabriel

TRANSFERRING FROM: Oklahoma

HT: 5-11 | WT: 204 | CLASS: Senior

BACKGROUND: Gabriel transferred to Oklahoma in 2022, coming from UCF, where he started 25 games, including 12 as a true freshman in 2019. He went 17-8 as a starter for the Knights, throwing for 8,037 yards with 70 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He suffered a season-ending injury in 2021 that limited him to three games, then transferred to Oklahoma for the 2022 season, where he reunited with his former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.

Gabriel led the Sooners to a 16-8 record in his starts over two seasons, throwing 55 touchdown passes with 12 picks. He ranked fourth in the FBS in Total QBR (87.3) this season and was sixth in passing yards (3,660). Lebby was recently announced as the new head coach at Mississippi State. Gabriel has one more season of eligibility.

No. 2 - Cam Ward

TRANSFERRING FROM: Washington State

HT: 6-2 | WT: 223 | CLASS: Junior

BACKGROUND: Prior to the 2022 season, Ward transferred from Incarnate Word, where he was a second-team FCS All-American and the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He had gone 10-3 in 2021, throwing for 4,648 yards, 47 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He continued that success in 2022 at Washington State and was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention. He started all 13 games and threw for 3,231 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Ward improved on those numbers in 2023, throwing for 3,732 yards, 25 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, while also rushing for eight TDs. He ranked fifth in the Pac-12 in QBR (65.1) and was third in the conference in completions of 20 yards or more, despite playing on a 5-7 team. He is now weighing whether to enter the NFL draft or transfer to another program.

No. 3 - Riley Leonard

TRANSFERRING FROM: Duke

HT: 6-4 | WT: 212 | CLASS: Junior

BACKGROUND: Leonard has started the past two seasons at Duke, including 13 games in 2022, when he threw for 2,967 yards, 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He also ran for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns that season. He suffered a toe injury this season that limited him to seven games -- he had only three TD passes -- but his highly productive 2022 makes him a valuable option. Leonard will have several suitors, and Notre Dame is a possible destination. The Irish will be looking to fill the void from Sam Hartman graduating, and Leonard would fit well within the offense.

No. 4 - Dante Moore

TRANSFERRING FROM: UCLA

HT: 6-3 | WT: 210 | CLASS: Freshman

BACKGROUND: Moore was the No. 2-ranked prospect in the 2023 class, a five-star recruit out of Detroit. He originally committed to Oregon, but then flipped to UCLA and signed with the Bruins last December. He appeared in 10 games this season, throwing for 1,610 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He went through a tumultuous first season, sharing time with Ethan Garbers; Moore ranked 118th in the FBS in QBR (33.1), which was last in the Pac-12. He completed just 53.5% of his passes. During his high school recruitment, Moore showed interest in Michigan State, Texas A&M, LSU, Miami and Michigan, among others.

No. 5 - Will Howard

TRANSFERRING FROM: Kansas State

HT: 6-5 | WT: 242 | CLASS: Senior

BACKGROUND: Howard helped Kansas State navigate a 10-4 season in 2022, including a win over TCU in the Big 12 Championship game. The Wildcats went 8-4 this season, with Howard finishing the year with 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also had 351 yards and nine touchdowns rushing. He ranked sixth in the Big 12 in QBR (75.3), but he has improved his completion percentage in all four of his seasons as a starter (61.3% in 2023). Howard is an experienced quarterback with an NFL frame who would bring a dual-threat aspect to an offense.

Other notable quarterbacks include Oregon State's DJ Uiagalelei (No. 7), Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall (No. 8), Texas Tech's Tyler Shough (No. 14), Miami's Tyler Van Dyke (No. 28) and Mississippi State's Will Rogers (No. 30).

VanHaaren ranked McCord as the No. 13 overall player in the transfer portal and the No. 8 quarterback behind Gabriel, Ward, Leonard, Moore, Howard, Uiagalelei and McCall. Therefore, VanHaaren believes each quarterback – based on experience and talent, among other factors – would be an upgrade over McCord. Still, with Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and Air Noland expected to be on Ohio State's roster in 2024, I am not convinced the Buckeyes are in the market for all of them.

To me, if Ohio State adds a quarterback from the transfer portal, it will be either Gabriel, Ward or Leonard, as all three are experienced and talented. In Day's quarterback-friendly scheme, Gabriel, Ward or Leonard could thrive for the Buckeyes as a one-year rental.

Such a move could lead to Brown's departure – though Brown's “Burn the Boats” post on Tuesday may indicate otherwise – but should keep Kienholz and Noland around for a quarterback competition in 2025. As a Devin Brown Believer™, it hurts to write that Brown could be in another uniform next season, but in the short-term and the long-term, the Buckeyes could see that as the best outcome of their current circumstances.

Eleven Warriors readers certainly believe that.

In the Tuesday poll, we asked, “Who will be Ohio State's QB1 in 2024?” Around 47% of users in a 7,500+ vote poll voted “Transfer QB,” while 30% voted for Kienholz, 14% voted for Brown and 9% voted for Nolan.

If Buckeye Nation were in control, it would be Transfer SZN in Columbus.

As it stands, the ball is in Ohio State's court.

 THE BROTHERHOOD. Kyle McCord shocked the college football world when he entered the transfer portal before the crack of dawn on Monday.

As reactions poured in from Ohio State fans and non-Ohio State fans in the hours that followed, some of McCord’s Buckeye teammates offered their support to McCord after he announced his departure from Columbus.

They were Marvin Harrison Jr. and TreVeyon Henderson.

Harrison, a Heisman Trophy finalist and Biletnikoff Award finalist as Ohio State’s leading receiver in 2023 – posted a picture of him with McCord on his Instagram story on Monday.

McCord and Harrison were teammates at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia before coming to Ohio State as members of the program’s loaded 2021 class. In McCord’s lone season as the Buckeyes’ QB1, Harrison was his top target – and by a Cade Stover country mile. In 12 appearances, McCord threw the ball in Harrison’s direction 114 times. Of those passes, Harrison recorded 67 receptions for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Henderson, a first-team All-Big Ten selection as Ohio State’s leading rusher in 2023, posted about McCord on X (formerly Twitter) and called McCord a “true team player” for the toughness he showed all season.

McCord and Henderson were Ohio State's backfield duo in nine games in 2023. The 5-foot-10, 212-pound running back collected 137 carries for 854 yards and 11 touchdowns in those contests. He also added 19 receptions for 229 yards as a pass-catcher.

 MAKING BUCKEYE NATION PROUD. Former Buckeyes Cam Heyward and Terry McLaurin were among 32 NFL players announced as nominees for the 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award on Tuesday. Heyward, a 13-year veteran for the Steelers, received his sixth nomination, while McLaurin, a five-year veteran for the Commanders, received his first nomination.

“The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is the league’s most prestigious honor given annually to the player who best represents the greatness and compassion of Walter Payton on and off the field,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “These 32 outstanding men are making a valuable difference in their communities every day, and we are proud to celebrate their special gifts and humanitarianism.”

In 2018, Heyward launched “Craig's Closet” to honor his late father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, a Pittsburgh Panther and 11-year NFL veteran. The foundation provides free dress clothes to help young men in career interviews, internships, events and more. In 2022 and 2023, Heyward hosted “Cam's Kindness Week,” which assists different areas of the Pittsburgh community for an entire week.

Heyward is also a member of the Social Justice Committee and donated $100,000 to the Social Justice Fund in 2022. Of the donations, which the Steelers matched, $50,000 went toward Café Momentum Pittsburgh and $50,000 to the Homewood Children's Village.

"Pittsburgh has meant so much to my family," Heyward told Steelers.com. "To get to play in this league right next door to where my dad started his football career has been really special. It's important to me to give back to this community that has blessed my family in so many ways."

McLaurin started “The Terry McLaurin Foundation” after he entered the NFL in 2019. Over the past four years, he has maintained a presence in communities across Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. In 2022, McLaurin won the NFLPA Community MVP Award for Week 2 in recognition of his community service.

"What I've been blessed and fortunate enough to do in this community, it's been super special," McLaurin told Commanders.com. "I'm going to remember this one for sure. This is something that never leaves you. This stuff transcends time."

That it does, Terry. That it does.

Heyward and McLaurin have made Buckeye Nation proud with their nominations for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. While not nominated for the award in 2023, several other Buckeyes have impacted their communities and received nominations in previous seasons, including – but, of course, not limited to – Sam Hubbard (Cincinnati Bengals), Denzel Ward (Cleveland Browns), Corey Linsley (Los Angeles Chargers) and Jerome Baker (Miami Dolphins).

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson and then Ohio State legend Woody Hayes (in his 1986 commencement speech):

"Paying forward." That is the thing that you folks can do with your great education for the rest of your life. ... Try to take that attitude toward life, that you're going to pay forward.  So seldom can we pay back because those who helped most – your parents and other people--will be gone, but you'll find that you do want to pay. Emerson had something to say about that: "You can pay back only seldom."  But he said, "You can always pay forward, and you must pay line for line, deed for deed, and cent for cent." 

That's a good word.

 WHAT A RUN. Over the past six seasons, the Buckeyes have sent six finalists to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City. That, folks, is an unbelievable run of individual dominance from select athletes in the Ohio State football program.

Dwayne Haskins kicked off Ohio State's Heisman finalist run in 2018, completing 70% of his passes for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns for the Buckeyes. He finished third in Heisman voting behind Oklahoma's Kyler Murray and Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa.

In 2019, Justin Fields and Chase Young were Heisman finalists. Fields completed 67.2% of his passes for 3,273 yards and 41 touchdowns and added 484 yards and 10 scores as a runner. Young recorded 46 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles and three pass breakups. The pair of Buckeyes finished third and fourth behind LSU's Joe Burrow and Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts.

In 2021 and 2022, C.J. Stroud completed 69.3% of his passes for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns. In his first year as a Heisman finalist, Stroud finished fourth behind Alabama's Bryce Young, Michigan's Aiden Hutchinson and Pitt's Kenny Pickett. In his second year, Stroud was third behind USC's Caleb Williams and TCU's Max Duggan.

This year, Marvin Harrison Jr. will represent Ohio State at the Lincoln Center. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound pass-catcher had a marvelous (or super) regular season in which he caught 67 passes for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also became the first receiver in Ohio State history with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and the first Buckeye ever with 15 career 100-yard receiving games.

While Harrison is not expected to win the Heisman over LSU's Jayden Daniels, Washington's Michael Penix Jr. or Oregon's Bo Nix, it is still quite the accomplishment that Harrison will be seated with them in the front row on Saturday. Only nine other wide receivers have been Heisman finalists since the Heisman Trust started to invite multiple finalists to the ceremony in 1981.

But, like Tim May, I digress.

Ohio State's run of Heisman finalists has been incredible. Sure, none of the Buckeyes before Harrison went on to win the stiff-arm award, but that doesn't discredit the kind of talent they possessed or their performances at Ohio State.

Haskins, Fields, Young, Stroud and Harrison are some of the greatest to ever wear a scarlet and gray uniform, and I am thankful I was able to watch at least one of them every fall Saturday for the past six years.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Stick Season (Live on SNL)” - Noah Kahan.

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