CJ Stroud comments on Quinn Ewers enrolling early

Ohio State freshman quarterback CJ Stroud made his feelings known on five-star quarterback Quinn Ewer’s decision to enroll at Ohio State a year early.

“I’m happy for him, man. He’s a good kid, and I’m happy that he’ll be able to make some money,” Stroud told the media on Tuesday night. “We’ll accept him in the room with open arms, just like we did Kyle (McCord). At the end of the day, it’s all a brotherhood.”

Ewers, who starred at Southlake Carroll in Texas the last two seasons, announced on Monday he would be skipping his senior season to enroll early at Ohio State. Ewers cited the inability to profit off of his Name, Image and Likeness, per Texas UIL rules, as a factor in his decision

CJ Stroud was a highly-touted recruit himself coming out of Rancho Cucamonga in California. He sat behind Justin Fields last season and entered the spring in a quarterback battle with fellow freshmen Jack Miller and Kyle McCord.

Technically, due to all players receiving a waiver for the 2020 season, the Buckeyes enter the 2021 season with four highly touted freshmen quarterbacks. Stroud is entering his fourth semester on campus while Miller and McCord are entering their second. CJ Stroud, Kyle McCord and Quinn Ewers were all ranked as five-star prospects by recruiting services.

Lettermen Row’s Austin Ward wrote earlier Tuesday that it would be fair to assume that Stroud is the favorite to win the quarterback battle this month.

“The consistent appearances at the head of the Ohio State line in drills, the strong spring-game performance and even the Heisman Trophy betting odds have made it pretty clear who is expected to win the quarterback job this month,” wrote Ward.

CJ Stroud had a strong performance in the spring game, going 16-22 for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Now with Ewers, who was previously ranked the top player in the country in the 2022 class per On3, and now ranks #2 behind Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams in the 2021 class, could throw a wrench in Stroud’s chances of starting.

Stroud has the advantage of being at Ohio State for nearly a year and a half, while Ewers won’t arrive on campus until later this month.

It sounds like there won’t be any bad blood, despite the tension of the quarterback battle set to take place over the coming weeks between the four. The Ohio State staff will have a tough decision to make at some point in the coming months as it relates to managing personnel, but it’s certainly not a bad problem to have.

In his two years as the starter at Southlake Carroll, Ewers threw for 6445 yards, 73 touchdowns with a 70% completion percentage. In his junior and senior seasons at Rancho Cucamonga, Stroud threw for 6221, 66 touchdowns with a 63% completion percentage.