Pete Thamel reveals what went into Ryan Day's decision to name Kyle McCord Week 1 starter

Ohio State fans now know who the starting quarterback will be when the Buckeyes take on Indiana in Week 1. Kyle McCord will take the first reps of the season, but Ryan Day said Devin Brown is also expected to see get some “meaningful snaps” in the game.

Although the competition might not necessarily be “over,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said McCord started to separate himself from what was a 50/50 split last week, as Day told reporters. However, his job isn’t to fill the stat sheet with touchdowns.

McCord’s job is to lift up the rest of his teammates — including his high school receiver, Marvin Harrison Jr.

“I think over the last week, Kyle McCord has pulled away a little bit from Devin Brown in this quarterback race,” Thamel said Tuesday on College Football Live. “It was a close race, especially early in camp, and I think the phrase that Ryan Day used that really hammered home the reason was consistency. Kyle McCord does not have to go out and throw 60 touchdown passes this season. He has to go out and accentuate the great weapons that Ohio State has, including his former high school teammate, Marvin Harrison Jr.

“This is going to be a more balanced Ohio State team with a healthy TreVeyon Henderson, they have a high end tight end and Cade Stover. And Kyle McCord is going to be a distributor to start. He has the talent and the skillset to do that. And that’s why he’s getting the nod opening night at Indiana.”

Kyle McCord will be surrounded by playmakers for Ohio State

McCord has some big shoes to fill with CJ Stroud off to the NFL as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But he’ll have plenty of impressive talent around him, starting with Henderson and Harrison.

Harrison is the biggest name of the group and could find himself as a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Last season, he broke out with 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns to cement himself as the best receiver in the country. He and Emeka Egbuka form quite the one-two punch at receiver, not to mention the fact that freshman Carnell Tate has impressed through camp.

But Henderson will be the most important name in the running backs room. He dealt with injuries last year, which held him to just 571 yards across eight games. As a freshman in 2021, though, he burst onto the scene with 1,248 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 312 receiving yards and four touchdowns in the air.

Getting him going will allow Ohio State to attack opposing defenses in different ways, and that’s why McCord could prove to effective as he runs Ryan Day’s offense.