Ryan Day provides timeline for naming Ohio State starting quarterback

Head coach Ryan Day offered a potential timeline for naming Ohio State’s starting quarterback for the 2021 season as previously covered in this piece by Lettermen Row’s Austin Ward.

“After this week, we’re going to have a really good feel,” Day said. “Wednesday will be a big day. Saturday will be a big day. We’ll take Sunday off and come up for air, and at that point, I think we’ll have a pretty good feel. Maybe it will take another week after that, but we’ll see. Now that we’re kind of getting into Practice No. 5, that’s 20 practices when you include the spring. There’s a pretty good body of work that we’re putting together day after day. Will we be ready next week? I don’t know. But it will be pretty close to that timetable.”

The three quarterbacks involved in the battle at the moment are C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller, and Kyle McCord. All three are freshmen, though Stroud and Miller are in their second years on campus.

Day isn’t revealing which, if any, of the three have an advantage so far. He’s put all three through the wringer in camp so far.

“Like I try to tell them all the time, if you can survive practice with me kind of getting after you, the games will be easy,” he said. “That’s sometimes hard on those guys, and I try to help them understand how hard it is to win a game and to play quarterback at this level.”

National Championship expectations

According to Day, all this is necessary because the expectation for the Ohio State starting quarterback is to win the national championship, be in the Heisman Trophy race and become a first-round NFL draft pick.

Stroud has been the presumptuous favorite since the end of last season. Fans got an extensive look at what he brings to the table in the spring game. Stroud had a strong performance, going 16-22 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

McCord had an equally impressive spring game performance, completing 12 of his 17 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. McCord was a five-star prospect coming out of St. Joseph’s (PA.) while Miller was a four-star out of Chaparral (AZ.) Day’s hesitancy to name a starter to this point is a testament to the talent of the three.