Ryan Day breaks down how to properly evaluate quarterbacks during spring

Ryan Day entered Ohio State‘s spring practices this year without a defined No. 1 quarterback. But that doesn’t mean he is without good options.

There are five quarterbacks on the Buckeyes spring roster, although the main two signal-callers competing for the job are rising junior Kyle McCord and rising sophomore Devin Brown.

Day said what he looks for in his quarterbacks of the future is to look at the quarterbacks of his past.

“The best I can tell you — it’s a great question — is just based on experience, trying to compare and contrast based on quarterbacks you had in the past, what its looked like, the decision making process, trying to put him in as many game like situations as possible: third down, red zone,” Day said during a Tuesday press conference.

Since arriving in Columbus as offensive coordinator in 2017 before being hired as head coach ahead of the 2019 season, Day has coached some great quarterbacks. His starters have been J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields and CJ Stroud.

But he has some highly-regarded prospects on the roster. McCord was a five-star recruit and No. 25 overall player in the 2021 On3 Industry Ranking. The On3 Industry is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four major recruiting media services. The On3 Industry Ranking is the most advanced, complete and unbiased rating and ranking measurement in the industry.

Brown was the No. 31 recruit in the 2022 On3 Industry Ranking. However, he was the No. 1 prospect in the 2022 On300 ranking.

But even when dealing with five-star guys like them, Day said, it takes until gameday to know whether you have someone or not.

“To be honest, you really don’t know until you get into a game,” Day said. “I was talking to CJ about it out there — he was at practice — that first Minnesota game, what that was like and the ups and downs of that one. A big part of it is getting your confidence. But I think you want to identify the things they do well, and then really emphasize those and then recognize what areas that need to be improved and try to make sure that we’re addressing those and just try to get the guys better every day. Over time, it seems to always shake itself out.”

McCord has more live in-game reps than Brown. He has played in 12 games as a backup over his first two seasons completing 41 passes on 58 attempts for 606 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.