Ryan Day provides update on quarterback battle: ‘You see some separation’

It’s still early for Ryan Day to make a quarterback decision for Ohio State, but the head coach said he saw some “separation” in the battle.

Will Howard was the big name coming in this offseason. The Kansas State transfer is the expected starter, but Day did not rush to make a decision.

He still has to battle Devin Brown, who saw some action last year, and freshman Julian Sayin.

“No, I don’t think we’ve narrowed it down,” Day said. “But you’re seeing guys make certain plays and certain things that are showing up in practice. As we start to get into some of the movement stuff and you get into situational things, you’re starting to just see commonalities. A lot of these guys bring great things to the table. Each guy brings either an experience or a skill set that’s different from the others. 

“The good news is they all can move and that’s certainly made an impact on the run game. And the pass game, you know, there’s good things there. There’s still things that they’re improving on but you’re seeing some separation and I wouldn’t say (I’m ready to) name a starter or anything like that, but there’s been good competition and guys have made plays. But I think ultimately, we’re looking forward to consistency over time.”

Sayin is the intriguing prospect, considering he’s a freshman. A former-five star prospect at that.

“He’s in the mix,” Day said. “Chip (Kelly) really rolls them. It doesn’t matter if the ones, twos or threes, so you get an opportunity to see what guys look like. I think sometimes when you’re young, you get two or three work, and sometimes it can look like a mess out there. 

“And so this has been a really good sample size to figure out where guys are at. But Julian’s been competing his tail off and he’ll continue to do that and he’s got a very bright future. And he’s gonna have a really good summer.”

Ryan Day evaluates Ohio State quarterback battle through spring

Whether it’s a young guy or an experienced guy, Day knows that Ohio State has the ability to play whoever and they’ll have success.

So long as that quarterback continues to develop in this new offense.

“The good thing for us is that we’re going to have both, which is great,” Day said. “So if that’s the case, then we’ll play those guys. I think that’s what this season offers. The way that you look at the season. And we’re going to do whatever we can to win games. That’s what it comes down to. 

“But we also know what our goal is at the end of the season and what is going to put us in position to do that at the end of the season and making sure we have you know, two or three quarterbacks that can go help us reach our goals, is going to be the number one thing so how do we do that? We got to figure that part out. I don’t think we’re there yet.” 

Day still won’t name a starter at this early stage. It’s all about reps right now.

“Right now the focus is just getting these guys as many reps as we can, evaluating them,” Day said. “But as we head into the preseason into the end of the season, that probably means getting guys reps in the game, so that they don’t get put into a situation where they haven’t played a lot of football before.”