Joel Klatt breaks down Ohio State’s decision to name starting quarterback

Kyle McCord is officially the Ohio State starting quarterback moving forward and Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt is happy it’s finally done for the Buckeyes.

In fact, it was imperative for head coach Ryan Day to finally put a stamp on the competition between McCord and Devin Brown. McCord’s reps in the first two games were crucial and Day saw enough to say the offense will run more efficiently with him under center.

Klatt broke down the decision as Ohio State heads into Week 3.

“They’re finally putting a flag in the ground as it relates to their quarterback situation,” Klatt said on his podcast. “And they have named Kyle McCord the starting quarterback moving forward and he will not split reps with Devin Brown … And there’s some significance to this. There’s a lot of significance to this, but I will tell you just from an individual quarterback’s perspective, this is such a good thing. You don’t want this type of competition to drag out. 

“Number one, these guys did not serve two different roles or purposes within the offense. So this was a true competition, one of them needed to win so that they could have the confidence to know that they were the number one quarterback and that they would get all the reps.”

But it was better to get this decision done sooner rather than later.

“I’ve told you before, quarterback is a reps position,” Klatt said. “And there’s only one way to get them and that is the live reps during the game … So that’s why it’s important to have a starting quarterback, that is a lone starting quarterback, in particular when he’s in a developmental mode like McCord is as a first year starter for Ohio State.”

Joel Klatt evaluates Ohio State decision to name Kyle McCord starting QB

While Klatt alluded to Ohio State and Day being relieved that there’s finally a winner to the competition, it took a little longer than it should’ve compared to how the quarterback situation was in the past in the program. 

“While Kyle McCord, quote unquote, won the job, it was a problem that they were in this position to begin with,” Klatt said. “I believe that it was because neither of them played well enough to be the bonafide starter from camp on. I told you in the preseason that if you’re an Ohio State fan, what you want is that both of these guys are playing lights out and making it tough on the coaches to decide. What you didn’t want is both of these guys to be inconsistent and making it tough. These coaches had to settle on someone because of mistakes. 

“And now after watching a good two games, it’s more of the latter. McCord does some things really well. And clearly he’s a talented player. He wouldn’t be at Ohio State if he wasn’t a talented player, but he also does some things really poorly. And he misses some things out there, some very easy throws.”

Quarterbacks, maybe more than any positon in football, need game time reps. McCord is now in position to do so and hopefully give Ohio State a run to the playoffs. If not, it could be a struggle.

“What does that quarterback need? He needs reps,” Klatt said. “That’s what development is all about … They’re converting about 23.5% of their third downs with McCord at quarterback, that has to increase. If you look at the numbers of what their offense is this year versus what they were a year ago, it’s pretty drastic and it needs to improve dramatically and quickly.”